diff --git a/libunwind/CMakeLists.txt b/libunwind/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/libunwind/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libunwind/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,12 @@
         "Specify path to libc++ source.")
 
 if (CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR OR LIBUNWIND_STANDALONE_BUILD)
+  # We may have an incomplete toolchain - skip linking testing when doing
+  # compiler sanity checks and ABI inspections.
+  set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE_ORIG ${CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE})
+  set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE STATIC_LIBRARY)
   project(libunwind LANGUAGES C CXX ASM)
+  set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE ${CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE_ORIG})
 
   set(PACKAGE_NAME libunwind)
   set(PACKAGE_VERSION 14.0.0git)
@@ -171,6 +176,14 @@
 # Get required flags.
 add_target_flags_if(LIBUNWIND_BUILD_32_BITS "-m32")
 
+# Compiler tests may be failing if the compiler implicitly links in libunwind,
+# which doesn't exist yet. This gets waived by --unwindlib=none
+# later in config-ix below, but the tests for --target etc before that may
+# be failing due to it. Only test compilation, not linking, for these
+# tests here now.
+set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE_ORIG ${CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE})
+set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE STATIC_LIBRARY)
+
 if(LIBUNWIND_TARGET_TRIPLE)
   add_target_flags_if_supported("--target=${LIBUNWIND_TARGET_TRIPLE}")
 endif()
@@ -180,6 +193,7 @@
 if(LIBUNWIND_SYSROOT)
   add_target_flags_if_supported("--sysroot=${LIBUNWIND_SYSROOT}")
 endif()
+set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE ${CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE_ORIG})
 
 # Configure compiler.
 include(config-ix)
diff --git a/libunwind/cmake/Modules/CheckCLinkerFlag.cmake b/libunwind/cmake/Modules/CheckCLinkerFlag.cmake
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libunwind/cmake/Modules/CheckCLinkerFlag.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+include(CMakePushCheckState)
+include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
+
+function(check_c_linker_flag flag dest)
+  # If testing a flag with check_c_compiler_flag, it gets added to the compile
+  # command only, but not to the linker command in that test. If the flag
+  # is vital for linking to succeed, the test would fail even if it would
+  # have succeeded if it was included on both commands.
+  #
+  # Therefore, try adding the flag to CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS, which gets
+  # added to both compiling and linking commands in the tests.
+
+  cmake_push_check_state()
+  set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS} ${flag}")
+  check_c_compiler_flag("" ${dest})
+  cmake_pop_check_state()
+endfunction()
diff --git a/libunwind/cmake/config-ix.cmake b/libunwind/cmake/config-ix.cmake
--- a/libunwind/cmake/config-ix.cmake
+++ b/libunwind/cmake/config-ix.cmake
@@ -1,10 +1,19 @@
 include(CMakePushCheckState)
 include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
+include(CheckCLinkerFlag)
 include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
 include(CheckLibraryExists)
 include(CheckSymbolExists)
 include(CheckCSourceCompiles)
 
+# The compiler driver may be implicitly trying to link against libunwind, which
+# might not work if libunwind doesn't exist yet. Try to check if
+# --unwindlib=none is supported, and use that if possible.
+check_c_linker_flag("--unwindlib=none" LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_UNWINDLIB_NONE_FLAG)
+if (LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_UNWINDLIB_NONE_FLAG)
+  set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS} --unwindlib=none")
+endif()
+
 check_library_exists(c fopen "" LIBUNWIND_HAS_C_LIB)
 
 if (NOT LIBUNWIND_USE_COMPILER_RT)
@@ -25,11 +34,11 @@
 # required for the link to go through. We remove sanitizers from the
 # configuration checks to avoid spurious link errors.
 
-check_c_compiler_flag(-nostdlib++ LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NOSTDLIBXX_FLAG)
+check_c_linker_flag(-nostdlib++ LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NOSTDLIBXX_FLAG)
 if (LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NOSTDLIBXX_FLAG)
   set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS} -nostdlib++")
 else()
-  check_c_compiler_flag(-nodefaultlibs LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NODEFAULTLIBS_FLAG)
+  check_c_linker_flag(-nodefaultlibs LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NODEFAULTLIBS_FLAG)
   if (LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NODEFAULTLIBS_FLAG)
     set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS} -nodefaultlibs")
   endif()
diff --git a/libunwind/src/CMakeLists.txt b/libunwind/src/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/libunwind/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libunwind/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@
 endif()
 
 # Setup flags.
+add_link_flags_if(LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_UNWINDLIB_NONE_FLAG --unwindlib=none)
 if (LIBUNWIND_SUPPORTS_NOSTDLIBXX_FLAG)
   add_link_flags_if_supported(-nostdlib++)
 else()