diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
index fcfc01d7f8900..7790f9ceef47e 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
@@ -417,11 +417,19 @@ rec {
   withCFlags =
     compilerFlags: stdenv:
     stdenv.override (old: {
-      mkDerivationFromStdenv = extendMkDerivationArgs old (args: {
-        env = (args.env or { }) // {
-          NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString (args.env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE or "") + " ${toString compilerFlags}";
-        };
-      });
+      mkDerivationFromStdenv = extendMkDerivationArgs old (
+        args:
+        if lib.hasAttr "env" args then
+          {
+            env = (args.env or { }) // {
+              NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString (args.env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE or "") + " ${toString compilerFlags}";
+            };
+          }
+        else
+          {
+            NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString (args.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE or "") + " ${toString compilerFlags}";
+          }
+      );
     });
 
   withDefaultHardeningFlags =