diff --git a/build/scripts/build_cross_tools_gcc4 b/build/scripts/build_cross_tools_gcc4
index 444a5dccb9..20fdf38c00 100755
--- a/build/scripts/build_cross_tools_gcc4
+++ b/build/scripts/build_cross_tools_gcc4
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ x86_64-*)
 	# explicitly using --enable-multilib that causes a build
 	# failure
 	binutilsConfigureArgs=""
-	gccConfigureArgs=""
+	# TODO: trying to build gcc-4.8.3 on x86_64 with --enable-tls fails with an
+	# internal compiler error, so we disable it (overriding --enable-tls used
+	# in the configure invocation below) until that problem is solved.
+	gccConfigureArgs="--disable-tls"
 	kernelCcFlags="$kernelCcFlags -mno-red-zone"
 	;;
 m68k-*)