diff --git a/cross/crossdirect/APKBUILD b/cross/crossdirect/APKBUILD
index a0d4cf4ff..a0bec9364 100644
--- a/cross/crossdirect/APKBUILD
+++ b/cross/crossdirect/APKBUILD
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # implementation details (llvm, fakeroot, rpath).
 
 pkgname=crossdirect
-pkgver=2
+pkgver=3
 pkgrel=0
 pkgdesc="Wrappers to launch native cross compilers in foreign chroots"
 url="https://postmarketOS.org"
@@ -63,4 +63,4 @@ package() {
 		done
 	done
 }
-sha512sums="6a94a2e0842c95b8ca862b71a7b54f280d0fe9da40fe40691628ef6089a995159c1b53513fb006589af064110a9d2592b24c772264c02d27e7bac9871428f757  crossdirect.c"
+sha512sums="f8366add6ba2ac6d9f8af89f389c69914009b12b21e6608121a78d1cd9afe287e24eafb0c21d80d096df9eee9a23cc2e6a5408f6355e27be05203186a0bf9814  crossdirect.c"
diff --git a/cross/crossdirect/crossdirect.c b/cross/crossdirect/crossdirect.c
index 319e11fca..4a7d4cd49 100644
--- a/cross/crossdirect/crossdirect.c
+++ b/cross/crossdirect/crossdirect.c
@@ -18,6 +18,19 @@ void exit_userfriendly() {
 	exit(1);
 }
 
+bool argv_has_arg(int argc, char** argv, const char* arg) {
+	size_t arg_len = strlen(arg);
+
+	for (int i=1; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (strlen(argv[i]) < arg_len)
+			continue;
+
+		if (!memcmp(argv[i], arg, arg_len))
+			return true;
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 	// we have a max of four extra args ("-target", "HOSTSPEC", "--sysroot=/", "-Wl,-rpath-link=/lib:/usr/lib"), plus one ending null
 	char* newargv[argc + 5];
@@ -26,6 +39,16 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 	bool isClang = (strcmp(executableName, "clang") == 0 || strcmp(executableName, "clang++") == 0);
 	bool startsWithHostSpec = (strncmp(HOSTSPEC, executableName, sizeof(HOSTSPEC) -1) == 0);
 
+	// linker is involved: just use qemu binary (to avoid broken cross-ld, pmaports#227)
+	if (!argv_has_arg(argc, argv, "-c")) {
+		snprintf(newExecutable, sizeof(newExecutable), "/usr/bin/%s", executableName);
+		if (execv(newExecutable, argv) == -1) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: crossdirect: failed to execute %s: %s\n", newExecutable, strerror(errno));
+			fprintf(stderr, "NOTE: this is a foreign arch binary that would run with qemu (linker is involved).\n");
+			exit_userfriendly();
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (isClang || startsWithHostSpec) {
 	   snprintf(newExecutable, sizeof(newExecutable), NATIVE_BIN_DIR "/%s", executableName);
 	} else {
@@ -39,22 +62,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 		*newArgsPtr++ = HOSTSPEC;
 	}
 	*newArgsPtr++ = "--sysroot=/";
-	bool addrpath = true;
-	if (isClang) {
-		// clang gives a warning if the rpath parameter is passed when linker isn't invoked.
-		// to avoid this warning, only add if we're actually linking at least one library.
-		addrpath = false;
-		for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
-			char* arg = argv[i];
-			if (strlen(arg) >= 2 && arg[0] == '-' && arg[1] == 'l') {
-				addrpath = true;
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	if (addrpath) {
-		*newArgsPtr++ = "-Wl,-rpath-link=/lib:/usr/lib";
-	}
+
 	memcpy(newArgsPtr, argv + 1, sizeof(char*)*(argc - 1));
 	newArgsPtr += (argc - 1);
 	*newArgsPtr = NULL;