diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/package.py
index 04c0e31ac07..cf3765fb317 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/package.py
@@ -523,6 +523,11 @@ def configure_args(self):
             '--disable-nls'
         ]
 
+        # Avoid excessive realpath/stat calls for every system header
+        # by making -fno-canonical-system-headers the default.
+        if self.version >= Version('4.8.0'):
+            options.append('--disable-canonical-system-headers')
+
         # Use installed libz
         if self.version >= Version('6'):
             options.append('--with-system-zlib')