diff --git a/c++/src/h5c++.in b/c++/src/h5c++.in
index f068f51bd5d..4b6b0fd408f 100644
--- a/c++/src/h5c++.in
+++ b/c++/src/h5c++.in
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ H5BLD_LDFLAGS="@AM_LDFLAGS@ @LDFLAGS@"
 H5BLD_LIBS="@LIBS@"
 
 CXX="${HDF5_CXX:-$CXXBASE}"
-CXXLINKER="${HDF5_CLINKER:-$CXXLINKERBASE}"
+CXXLINKER="${HDF5_CXXLINKER:-$CXXLINKERBASE}"
 CXXFLAGS="${HDF5_CXXFLAGS:-$CXXFLAGSBASE}"
 CPPFLAGS="${HDF5_CPPFLAGS:-$CPPFLAGSBASE}"
 LDFLAGS="${HDF5_LDFLAGS:-$LDFLAGSBASE}"