diff --git a/video/out/opengl/context.c b/video/out/opengl/context.c
index 0f5b61e37c..fb3471cd3b 100644
--- a/video/out/opengl/context.c
+++ b/video/out/opengl/context.c
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ int mpgl_validate_backend_opt(struct mp_log *log, const struct m_option *opt,
 
 #if HAVE_C11_TLS
 #define MP_TLS _Thread_local
-#elif defined(__GNUC__)
+#elif HAVE_GCC_TLS
 #define MP_TLS __thread
 #endif
 
diff --git a/wscript b/wscript
index ccdf3a9fdc..9fa00b01f0 100644
--- a/wscript
+++ b/wscript
@@ -185,6 +185,10 @@ main_dependencies = [
         'name': 'c11-tls',
         'desc': 'C11 TLS support',
         'func': check_statement('stddef.h', 'static _Thread_local int x = 0'),
+    }, {
+        'name': 'gcc-tls',
+        'desc': 'GCC TLS support',
+        'func': check_statement('stddef.h', 'static __thread int x = 0'),
     }, {
         'name': 'librt',
         'desc': 'linking with -lrt',