diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/binaryen/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/binaryen/default.nix
index 8bc21cff7a10..8868590af83f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/binaryen/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/binaryen/default.nix
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   strictDeps = true;
 
   preConfigure = ''
-    if [ $doCheck -eq 1 ]; then
+    if [ -n "$doCheck" ]; then
       sed -i '/gtest/d' third_party/CMakeLists.txt
       rmdir test/spec/testsuite
       ln -s ${testsuite} test/spec/testsuite
@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$PWD/lib python3 ../check.py $tests
   '';
 
+  # bin/binaryen-unittests is absent on cross builds which don't have doCheck,
+  # so delete it on non-cross builds too (thus removing gtest from the closure).
+  postInstall = ''
+    if [ -n "$doCheck" ]; then
+      rm "$out/bin/binaryen-unittests"
+    fi
+  '';
+
   tests = [
     "version"
     "wasm-opt"