diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cb7b89091..5364c2b2b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 This project uses the changelog in accordance with [keepchangelog](http://keepachangelog.com/). Please use this to write notable changes, which is not the same as git commit log...
 
 ## [unreleased][unreleased]
+ - Added `CROSS_CC` and similar args for maintainers, see Maintainers.md (@doegox)
  - crack5opencl: fix deadlock in wu_queue_destroy() + minor changes on threads.c (@matrix)
 
 ## [crimson.4.14434][2021-09-18]
diff --git a/armsrc/Makefile b/armsrc/Makefile
index 219b176c1..3c2219b96 100644
--- a/armsrc/Makefile
+++ b/armsrc/Makefile
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ FPGA_COMPRESSOR = ../tools/fpga_compress/fpga_compress
 all: showinfo $(OBJS)
 
 showinfo:
-	$(info compiler version:  $(shell $(CC) --version|head -n 1))
+	$(info compiler version:  $(shell $(CROSS_CC) --version|head -n 1))
 
 .DELETE_ON_ERROR:
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ fpga_version_info.c: $(FPGA_BITSTREAMS) $(FPGA_COMPRESSOR)
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fpga_all.o: $(OBJDIR)/fpga_all.bit.z
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --prefix-sections=fpga_all_bit $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --prefix-sections=fpga_all_bit $^ $@
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fpga_all.bit.z: $(FPGA_BITSTREAMS) | $(FPGA_COMPRESSOR)
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
@@ -190,19 +190,19 @@ $(FPGA_COMPRESSOR):
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.stage1.elf: $(VERSIONOBJ) $(OBJDIR)/fpga_all.o $(THUMBOBJ) $(ARMOBJ)
 	$(info [=] LD $@)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS)
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_LD) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS)
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.nodata.bin: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.stage1.elf
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O binary -I elf32-littlearm --remove-section .data $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -O binary -I elf32-littlearm --remove-section .data $^ $@
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.nodata.o: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.nodata.bin
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --rename-section .data=stage1_image $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --rename-section .data=stage1_image $^ $@
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.bin: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.stage1.elf
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O binary -I elf32-littlearm --only-section .data $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -O binary -I elf32-littlearm --only-section .data $^ $@
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.bin.z: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.bin | $(FPGA_COMPRESSOR)
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
@@ -214,12 +214,12 @@ endif
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.o: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.bin.z
 	$(info [-] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --rename-section .data=compressed_data $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -O elf32-littlearm -I binary -B arm --rename-section .data=compressed_data $^ $@
 
 $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.elf: $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.nodata.o $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.data.o
 ifeq (,$(findstring WITH_NO_COMPRESSION,$(APP_CFLAGS)))
 	$(info [=] LD $@)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript,-e,_osimage_entry,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_LD) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript,-e,_osimage_entry,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^
 else
 	$(Q)$(CP) $(OBJDIR)/fullimage.stage1.elf $@
 endif
diff --git a/bootrom/Makefile b/bootrom/Makefile
index 255ebeb1c..0910efe7e 100644
--- a/bootrom/Makefile
+++ b/bootrom/Makefile
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ version_pm3.c: default_version_pm3.c
 all: showinfo $(OBJS)
 
 showinfo:
-	$(info compiler version:  $(shell $(CC) --version|head -n 1))
+	$(info compiler version:  $(shell $(CROSS_CC) --version|head -n 1))
 
 tarbin: $(OBJS)
 	$(info [=] GEN $@)
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ tarbin: $(OBJS)
 
 $(OBJDIR)/bootrom.elf: $(VERSIONOBJ) $(ASMOBJ) $(ARMOBJ) $(THUMBOBJ)
 	$(info [=] LD $@)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript-flash,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS)
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_LD) $(CROSS_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-T,ldscript-flash,-Map,$(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$@) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS)
 
 clean:
 	$(Q)$(RM) $(OBJDIR)$(PATHSEP)*.o
diff --git a/common_arm/Makefile.common b/common_arm/Makefile.common
index f5fad1401..50b1eaac5 100644
--- a/common_arm/Makefile.common
+++ b/common_arm/Makefile.common
@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ ifeq ($(DEFSBEENHERE),)
     $(error Can't find Makefile.defs)
 endif
 
-CC = $(CROSS)gcc
-AS = $(CROSS)as
-LD = $(CROSS)ld
-OBJCOPY = $(CROSS)objcopy
+CROSS_CC = $(CROSS)gcc
+CROSS_LD = $(CROSS)gcc
+CROSS_OBJCOPY = $(CROSS)objcopy
 
 OBJDIR = obj
 
@@ -107,21 +106,21 @@ VERSIONOBJ = $(patsubst %.c,$(OBJDIR)/%.o,$(notdir $(VERSIONSRC)))
 
 $(THUMBOBJ): $(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c $(INCLUDES)
 	$(info [-] CC $<)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) $(DEPFLAGS) -mthumb -o $@ $<
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) $(DEPFLAGS) -mthumb -o $@ $<
 	$(Q)$(POSTCOMPILE)
 
 $(ARMOBJ): $(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c $(INCLUDES)
 	$(info [-] CC $<)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) $(DEPFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) $(DEPFLAGS) -o $@ $<
 	$(Q)$(POSTCOMPILE)
 
 $(ASMOBJ): $(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.s
 	$(info [-] CC $<)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
 
 $(VERSIONOBJ): $(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c $(INCLUDES)
 	$(info [-] CC $<)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) -mthumb -o $@ $<
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_CC) $(CROSS_CFLAGS) -mthumb -o $@ $<
 
 # This objcopy call translates physical flash addresses to logical addresses
 # without touching start address or RAM addresses (.bss and .data sections)
@@ -132,7 +131,7 @@ OBJCOPY_TRANSLATIONS = --no-change-warnings \
     --change-section-address .commonarea+0
 $(OBJDIR)/%.s19: $(OBJDIR)/%.elf
 	$(info [=] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -Osrec --srec-forceS3 --strip-debug $(OBJCOPY_TRANSLATIONS) $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) -Osrec --srec-forceS3 --strip-debug $(OBJCOPY_TRANSLATIONS) $^ $@
 
 # easy printing of MAKE VARIABLES
 print-%: ; @echo $* = $($*)
diff --git a/doc/md/Development/Maintainers.md b/doc/md/Development/Maintainers.md
index 9af92bf72..234d2445e 100644
--- a/doc/md/Development/Maintainers.md
+++ b/doc/md/Development/Maintainers.md
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@ For verbose usage and see the actual commands being executed, add `V=1`.
 
 `CFLAGS` and `LDFLAGS` can be overriden by environment variables for client-side components.
 
-`CROSS_CFLAGS` and `CROSS_LDFLAGS` can be overriden by environment variables for ARM-side components.
+Default compiler is gcc but you can use clang for the non-ARM parts with e.g. `make client CC=clang CXX=clang++ LD=clang++`. Note that `CC`, `CXX` and `LD` must be provided as explicit arguments, they won't be overriden by environment variables.
 
-Default compiler is gcc but you can use clang for the non-ARM parts with e.g. `make client CC=clang CXX=clang++ LD=clang++`.
+Similarly, for ARM-side components, `CROSS_CFLAGS` and `CROSS_LDFLAGS` can be overriden by environment variables and `CROSS_CC`, `CROSS_LD` and `CROSS_OBJCOPY` can be provided as explicit arguments.
 
 If your platform needs specific lib/include paths for the client, you can use `LDLIBS` and `INCLUDES_CLIENT` *as envvars*, e.g. `LDLIBS="-L/some/more/lib" INCLUDES_CLIENT="-I/some/more/include" make client ...`
 
diff --git a/recovery/Makefile b/recovery/Makefile
index e6e3f7041..efa7b4af9 100644
--- a/recovery/Makefile
+++ b/recovery/Makefile
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ all: $(BINS)
 
 bootrom.bin: ../bootrom/obj/bootrom.elf
 	$(info [=] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) --gap-fill=0xff --pad-to 0x00102000 -O binary $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) --gap-fill=0xff --pad-to 0x00102000 -O binary $^ $@
 
 fullimage.bin: ../armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf
 	$(info [=] GEN $@)
-	$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) --gap-fill=0xff -O binary $^ $@
+	$(Q)$(CROSS_OBJCOPY) --gap-fill=0xff -O binary $^ $@
 
 proxmark3_recovery.bin: bootrom.bin fullimage.bin
 	$(info [=] GEN $@)