diff --git a/gnu/packages/dbm.scm b/gnu/packages/dbm.scm
index 5191c475c2..84c5817a79 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/dbm.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/dbm.scm
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ (define-public bdb-4.8
        #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (replace 'configure
-           (lambda* (#:key outputs #:allow-other-keys)
+           (lambda* (#:key target outputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (let ((out (assoc-ref outputs "out"))
                    (doc (assoc-ref outputs "doc")))
                ;; '--docdir' is not honored, so we need to patch.
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ (define-public bdb-4.8
                              '("--build=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu")
                              '())
 
+                       ,@(if (%current-target-system)         ; cross building
+                             '((string-append "--host=" target))
+                             '())
+
                        ;; Remove 7 MiB of .a files.
                        "--disable-static"