diff --git a/gnu/packages/cross-base.scm b/gnu/packages/cross-base.scm
index 78cbf871ac..529144d127 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cross-base.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cross-base.scm
@@ -101,7 +101,16 @@ (define* (cross-binutils target #:optional (binutils binutils))
                                          "ath9k-htc-firmware-binutils.patch")))
                  ((target-mingw? target)
                   (package-with-extra-patches
-                   binutils
+                   (package-with-extra-configure-variable
+                    ;; mingw binutils does not work correctly when configured
+                    ;; with `--enable-compressed-debug-sections`. An error
+                    ;; like the following will occur whenever you try to link:
+                    ;;
+                    ;;   x86_64-w64-mingw32-ld: final link failed: bad value
+                    ;;
+                    ;; TODO: This seems like a deeper problem that warrants
+                    ;; deeper investigation.
+                    binutils "--enable-compressed-debug-sections" "no")
                    (search-patches "binutils-mingw-w64-timestamp.patch"
                                    "binutils-mingw-w64-deterministic.patch")))
                  (else binutils))