diff --git a/gnu/packages/lisp.scm b/gnu/packages/lisp.scm
index feaa08af38..78ff83de15 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/lisp.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/lisp.scm
@@ -168,7 +168,10 @@ (define-public clisp
               ("readline" ,readline)
               ("libsigsegv" ,libsigsegv)))
     (arguments
-     '(#:phases
+     '(;; XXX The custom configure script does not cope well when passed
+       ;; --build=<triplet>.
+       #:build #f
+       #:phases
        (alist-cons-after
         'unpack 'patch-sh-and-pwd
         (lambda _