diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/jam/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/jam/default.nix
index 192c27682ab5..2a40c5970984 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/jam/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/jam/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, bison, buildPackages }:
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, bison, buildPackages, pkgsBuildTarget }:
 
 let
-  mkJam = { meta ? { }, ... } @ args: stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
+  mkJam = { pname, version, src, meta ? { } }: stdenv.mkDerivation {
+    inherit pname version src;
+
     depsBuildBuild = [ buildPackages.stdenv.cc ];
     nativeBuildInputs = [ bison ];
 
@@ -10,6 +12,23 @@ let
       export AR="$AR rc"
     '';
 
+    # When cross-compiling, we need to set the preprocessor macros
+    # OSMAJOR/OSMINOR/OSPLAT to the values from the target platform, not the
+    # host platform. This looks a little ridiculous because the vast majority of
+    # build tools don't embed target-specific information into their binary, but
+    # in this case we behave more like a compiler than a make(1)-alike.
+    postPatch = lib.optionalString (stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.targetPlatform) ''
+      cat >>jam.h <<EOF
+      #undef OSMAJOR
+      #undef OSMINOR
+      #undef OSPLAT
+      $(
+        ${pkgsBuildTarget.targetPackages.stdenv.cc}/bin/${pkgsBuildTarget.targetPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc -E -dM jam.h \
+          | grep -E '^#define (OSMAJOR|OSMINOR|OSPLAT) '
+      )
+      EOF
+    '';
+
     LOCATE_TARGET = "bin.unix";
 
     buildPhase = ''
@@ -30,59 +49,67 @@ let
 
     enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
-    meta = with lib; meta // {
+    meta = with lib; {
       license = licenses.free;
       mainProgram = "jam";
       platforms = platforms.unix;
-    };
-  });
+    } // meta;
+  };
 in
 {
   jam = let
     pname = "jam";
     version = "2.6.1";
-  in mkJam {
-    inherit pname version;
 
-    src = fetchurl {
-      url = "https://swarm.workshop.perforce.com/projects/perforce_software-jam/download/main/${pname}-${version}.tar";
-      sha256 = "19xkvkpycxfsncxvin6yqrql3x3z9ypc1j8kzls5k659q4kv5rmc";
-    };
+    base = mkJam {
+      inherit pname version;
 
-    meta = with lib; {
-      description = "Just Another Make";
-      homepage = "https://www.perforce.com/resources/documentation/jam";
-      maintainers = with maintainers; [ impl orivej ];
+      src = fetchurl {
+        url = "https://swarm.workshop.perforce.com/projects/perforce_software-jam/download/main/${pname}-${version}.tar";
+        sha256 = "19xkvkpycxfsncxvin6yqrql3x3z9ypc1j8kzls5k659q4kv5rmc";
+      };
+
+      meta = with lib; {
+        description = "Just Another Make";
+        homepage = "https://www.perforce.com/resources/documentation/jam";
+        maintainers = with maintainers; [ impl orivej ];
+      };
     };
-  };
+  in base.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {
+    makeFlags = (oldAttrs.makeFlags or []) ++ [
+      "CC=${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc"
+    ];
+  });
 
   ftjam = let
     pname = "ftjam";
     version = "2.5.2";
-  in mkJam {
-    inherit pname version;
 
-    src = fetchurl {
-      url = "https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/freetype/${pname}/${version}/${pname}-${version}.tar.bz2";
-      hash = "sha256-6JdzUAqSkS3pGOn+v/q+S2vOedaa8ZRDX04DK4ptZqM=";
+    base = mkJam {
+      inherit pname version;
+
+      src = fetchurl {
+        url = "https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/freetype/${pname}/${version}/${pname}-${version}.tar.bz2";
+        hash = "sha256-6JdzUAqSkS3pGOn+v/q+S2vOedaa8ZRDX04DK4ptZqM=";
+      };
+
+      meta = with lib; {
+        description = "FreeType's enhanced, backwards-compatible Jam clone";
+        homepage = "https://freetype.org/jam/";
+        maintainers = with maintainers; [ AndersonTorres impl ];
+      };
     };
-
-    postPatch = ''
+  in base.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {
+    postPatch = (oldAttrs.postPatch or "") + ''
       substituteInPlace Jamfile --replace strip ${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}strip
     '';
 
     # Doesn't understand how to cross compile once bootstrapped, so we'll just
     # use the Makefile for the bootstrapping portion.
     configurePlatforms = [ "build" "target" ];
-    configureFlags = [
+    configureFlags = (oldAttrs.configureFlags or []) ++ [
       "CC=${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc"
       "--host=${stdenv.buildPlatform.config}"
     ];
-
-    meta = with lib; {
-      description = "FreeType's enhanced, backwards-compatible Jam clone";
-      homepage = "https://freetype.org/jam/";
-      maintainers = with maintainers; [ AndersonTorres impl ];
-    };
-  };
+  });
 }