diff --git a/configure b/configure
index fbfe849474..37877d5b97 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -4301,10 +4301,8 @@ ac_compiler_gnu=$ac_cv_c_compiler_gnu
 
 
 if test -z "$TEST_CXX"; then
-  saved_CXX=
   TEST_CXX="$CXX"
 else
-  saved_CXX="$CXX"
   CXX="$TEST_CXX"
 fi
 # It's useless to us if it can't link programs (e.g. missing -lstdc++).
@@ -4382,10 +4380,7 @@ fi
 printf "%s\n" "$libc_cv_cxx_link_ok" >&6; }
 if test $libc_cv_cxx_link_ok != yes
 then :
-  CXX=
-fi
-if test -n "$saved_CXX"; then
-  CXX="$saved_CXX"
+  CXX=; TEST_CXX=
 fi
 
 if test "`cd $srcdir; pwd -P`" = "`pwd -P`"; then
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1b0e07dfab..dca8991fbf 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -78,10 +78,8 @@ AC_PROG_CXX
 AC_ARG_VAR([TEST_CXX],
 	   [C++ compiler for testing])
 if test -z "$TEST_CXX"; then
-  saved_CXX=
   TEST_CXX="$CXX"
 else
-  saved_CXX="$CXX"
   CXX="$TEST_CXX"
 fi
 # It's useless to us if it can't link programs (e.g. missing -lstdc++).
@@ -110,10 +108,7 @@ main()
   LDFLAGS="$old_LDFLAGS"
 fi
 AC_LANG_POP([C++])])
-AS_IF([test $libc_cv_cxx_link_ok != yes], [CXX=])
-if test -n "$saved_CXX"; then
-  CXX="$saved_CXX"
-fi
+AS_IF([test $libc_cv_cxx_link_ok != yes], [CXX=; TEST_CXX=])
 
 if test "`cd $srcdir; pwd -P`" = "`pwd -P`"; then
   AC_MSG_ERROR([you must configure in a separate build directory])