diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dfafc61cf..3e893bd58 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-export CC  = gcc
-#build on the fly
-export CXX = g++
+export CC  = $(if $(shell which gcc-5),gcc-5,gcc)
+export CXX = $(if $(shell which g++-5),g++-5,gcc)
+
 export MPICXX = mpicxx
 export LDFLAGS= -pthread -lm
 export CFLAGS = -Wall -O3 -msse2  -Wno-unknown-pragmas -funroll-loops