diff --git a/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh b/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
index dfedc8569..f1a2f7025 100755
--- a/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
@@ -368,6 +368,10 @@ popd  >> /dev/null
 
 [ -n "${KERNEL_MODULES_DIR}" ] && copy_kernel_modules ${KERNEL_MODULES_DIR} ${ROOTFS_DIR}
 
+# The CC on s390x for fedora needs to be manually set to gcc when the golang is downloaded from the main page.
+# See issue: https://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder/issues/217
+[ "$distro" == fedora ] && [ "$ARCH" == "s390x" ] && export CC=gcc
+
 AGENT_DIR="${ROOTFS_DIR}/usr/bin"
 AGENT_DEST="${AGENT_DIR}/${AGENT_BIN}"