diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/slstatus/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/slstatus/default.nix
index 613d2f8e78bf..5badb7f1b35a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/slstatus/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/slstatus/default.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
   buildInputs = [ libX11 ];
 
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
   installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
   meta = {
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/wmname/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/wmname/default.nix
index 438bd5c5d56a..45e7cf3d8f1b 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/wmname/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/wmname/default.nix
@@ -9,9 +9,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "559ad188b2913167dcbb37ecfbb7ed474a7ec4bbcb0129d8d5d08cb9208d02c5";
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace Makefile --replace "@strip" "#@strip"
+  '';
+
   buildInputs = [ libX11 ];
 
-  preConfigure = ''sed -i "s@PREFIX = /usr/local@PREFIX = $out@g" config.mk'';
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
+  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
   meta = {
     description = "Prints or set the window manager name property of the root window";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/ii/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/ii/default.nix
index 93056ef399fb..18a9a8882fac 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/ii/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/ii/default.nix
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1lk8vjl7i8dcjh4jkg8h8bkapcbs465sy8g9c0chfqsywbmf3ndr";
   };
 
-  installPhase = ''
-    make install PREFIX=$out
-  '';
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
+  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://tools.suckless.org/ii/";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/sic/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/sic/default.nix
index 129b72d847d4..705fc12510db 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/sic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/irc/sic/default.nix
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "sic";
   version = "1.2";
 
-  makeFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://dl.suckless.org/tools/sic-${version}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "ac07f905995e13ba2c43912d7a035fbbe78a628d7ba1c256f4ca1372fb565185";
   };
 
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
+  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
+
   meta = {
     description = "Simple IRC client";
     homepage = "https://tools.suckless.org/sic/";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/farbfeld/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/farbfeld/default.nix
index 07957674bb31..3e1045ab852b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/farbfeld/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/farbfeld/default.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ libpng libjpeg ];
   nativeBuildInputs = [ makeWrapper ];
 
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
   installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
   postInstall = ''
     wrapProgram "$out/bin/2ff" --prefix PATH : "${file}/bin"
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/screensavers/slock/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/screensavers/slock/default.nix
index 63ca76e391f4..9f364ba520cd 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/screensavers/slock/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/screensavers/slock/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ xorgproto libX11 libXext libXrandr ];
 
-  installFlags = [ "DESTDIR=\${out}" "PREFIX=" ];
+  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
   postPatch = "sed -i '/chmod u+s/d' Makefile";
 
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     cp ${writeText "config.def.h" conf} config.def.h
   '';
 
+  makeFlags = [ "CC:=$(CC)" ];
+
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://tools.suckless.org/slock";
     description = "Simple X display locker";