diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 7b1f61bf46..92e8fadcc5 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -278,9 +278,9 @@ option('dbus', type : 'combo', choices : ['auto', 'true', 'false'],
 
 option('gnu-efi', type : 'combo', choices : ['auto', 'true', 'false'],
        description : 'gnu-efi support for sd-boot')
-option('efi-cc', type : 'string', value : 'gcc',
+option('efi-cc', type : 'string',
        description : 'the compiler to use for EFI modules')
-option('efi-ld', type : 'string', value : 'ld',
+option('efi-ld', type : 'string',
        description : 'the linker to use for EFI modules')
 option('efi-libdir', type : 'string',
        description : 'path to the EFI lib directory')
diff --git a/src/boot/efi/meson.build b/src/boot/efi/meson.build
index c5509e73d1..39fbf7ec11 100644
--- a/src/boot/efi/meson.build
+++ b/src/boot/efi/meson.build
@@ -34,7 +34,13 @@ stub_sources = '''
 
 if conf.get('ENABLE_EFI') == 1 and get_option('gnu-efi') != 'false'
         efi_cc = get_option('efi-cc')
+        if efi_cc == ''
+                efi_cc = ' '.join(cc.cmd_array())
+        endif
         efi_ld = get_option('efi-ld')
+        if efi_ld == ''
+                efi_ld = find_program('ld', required: true)
+        endif
         efi_incdir = get_option('efi-includedir')
 
         gnu_efi_path_arch = ''