diff --git a/src/Compilation/Config.zig b/src/Compilation/Config.zig
index e01daa6db1f15238de4979cd37230e475112fcad..2ce5c9abbe998e1f9841309004a262fa96cd2c42 100644
--- a/src/Compilation/Config.zig
+++ b/src/Compilation/Config.zig
@@ -400,7 +400,9 @@ pub fn resolve(options: Options) ResolveError!Config {
             break :b true;
         }
 
-        if (options.use_llvm == false) {
+        // If there's no ZCU we aren't using the LLVM backend but
+        // it shouldn't influence which linker we pick
+        if (!use_llvm and options.have_zcu) {
             if (options.use_lld == true) return error.LldCannotIncrementallyLink;
             break :b false;
         }