diff --git a/lib/systems/default.nix b/lib/systems/default.nix
index 78ccd50ba79a..a3462d2d424b 100644
--- a/lib/systems/default.nix
+++ b/lib/systems/default.nix
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ rec {
         # choice.
         else                                     "bfd";
       extensions = rec {
-        sharedLibrary =
+        sharedLibrary = assert final.hasSharedLibraries;
           /**/ if final.isDarwin  then ".dylib"
           else if final.isWindows then ".dll"
           else                         ".so";
@@ -132,6 +132,25 @@ rec {
          # uname -r
          release = null;
       };
+
+      # It is important that hasSharedLibraries==false when the platform has no
+      # dynamic library loader.  Various tools (including the gcc build system)
+      # have knowledge of which platforms are incapable of dynamic linking, and
+      # will still build on/for those platforms with --enable-shared, but simply
+      # omit any `.so` build products such as libgcc_s.so.  When that happens,
+      # it causes hard-to-troubleshoot build failures.
+      hasSharedLibraries = with final;
+        (isAndroid || isGnu || isMusl                                  # Linux (allows multiple libcs)
+         || isDarwin || isSunOS || isOpenBSD || isFreeBSD || isNetBSD  # BSDs
+         || isCygwin || isMinGW                                        # Windows
+        ) && !isStatic;
+
+      # The difference between `isStatic` and `hasSharedLibraries` is mainly the
+      # addition of the `staticMarker` (see make-derivation.nix).  Some
+      # platforms, like embedded machines without a libc (e.g. arm-none-eabi)
+      # don't support dynamic linking, but don't get the `staticMarker`.
+      # `pkgsStatic` sets `isStatic=true`, so `pkgsStatic.hostPlatform` always
+      # has the `staticMarker`.
       isStatic = final.isWasm || final.isRedox;
 
       # Just a guess, based on `system`