diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3243d38f0f..9f457d9503 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ TARGET = retroarch
 OBJ :=
 LIBS :=
 DEF_FLAGS :=
+ASFLAGS :=
 DEFINES := -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DRARCH_INTERNAL -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64
 DEFINES += -DGLOBAL_CONFIG_DIR='"$(GLOBAL_CONFIG_DIR)"'
 
diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index 59b093164c..80ee18ed55 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -63,8 +63,14 @@ ifeq ($(VULKAN_DEBUG), 1)
    DEF_FLAGS += -DVULKAN_DEBUG
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(HAVE_HARD_FLOAT), 1)
-   DEFINES += -mfloat-abi=hard
+ifeq ($(HAVE_FLOATHARD), 1)
+   ASFLAGS += $(FLOATHARD_CFLAGS)
+   DEFINES += $(FLOATHARD_CFLAGS)
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(HAVE_FLOATSOFTFP), 1)
+   ASFLAGS += $(FLOATSOFTFP_CFLAGS)
+   DEFINES += $(FLOATSOFTFP_CFLAGS)
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(TDM_GCC),)
@@ -370,6 +376,10 @@ ifeq ($(HAVE_SSA),1)
    LIBS += $(SSA_LIBS)
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(HAVE_SSE),1)
+   DEFINES += $(SSE_LIBS)
+endif
+
 # LibretroDB
 
 ifeq ($(HAVE_LIBRETRODB), 1)
@@ -621,7 +631,9 @@ ifeq ($(HAVE_NEON),1)
    OBJ += $(LIBRETRO_COMM_DIR)/audio/resampler/drivers/sinc_resampler_neon.o \
           audio/drivers_resampler/cc_resampler_neon.o \
           memory/neon/memcpy-neon.o
-   DEFINES += -DHAVE_NEON
+
+   ASFLAGS += $(NEON_ASFLAGS)
+   DEFINES += -DHAVE_NEON $(NEON_CFLAGS)
 endif
 
 OBJ += $(LIBRETRO_COMM_DIR)/audio/conversion/s16_to_float.o \
diff --git a/qb/config.libs.sh b/qb/config.libs.sh
index e0e8985ae4..b62a0c86f9 100644
--- a/qb/config.libs.sh
+++ b/qb/config.libs.sh
@@ -84,26 +84,16 @@ if [ "$HAVE_PRESERVE_DYLIB" = "yes" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ "$HAVE_NEON" = "yes" ]; then
-   CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -mfpu=neon -marm"
-   CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -mfpu=neon -marm"
-   ASFLAGS="$ASFLAGS -mfpu=neon"
+   add_define MAKEFILE NEON_CFLAGS '-mfpu=neon -marm'
+   add_define MAKEFILE NEON_ASFLAGS -mfpu=neon
 fi
 
 if [ "$HAVE_FLOATHARD" = "yes" ]; then
-   CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -mfloat-abi=hard"
-   CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -mfloat-abi=hard"
-   ASFLAGS="$ASFLAGS -mfloat-abi=hard"
+   add_define MAKEFILE FLOATHARD_CFLAGS -mfloat-abi=hard
 fi
 
 if [ "$HAVE_FLOATSOFTFP" = "yes" ]; then
-   CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -mfloat-abi=softfp"
-   CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -mfloat-abi=softfp"
-   ASFLAGS="$ASFLAGS -mfloat-abi=softfp"
-fi
-
-if [ "$HAVE_SSE" = "yes" ]; then
-   CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -msse -msse2"
-   CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -msse -msse2"
+   add_define MAKEFILE FLOATSOFTFP_CFLAGS -mfloat-abi=softfp
 fi
 
 if [ "$HAVE_EGL" != "no" ] && [ "$OS" != 'Win32' ]; then
@@ -116,6 +106,7 @@ if [ "$HAVE_EGL" != "no" ] && [ "$OS" != 'Win32' ]; then
 fi
 
 check_lib '' SSA -lass ass_library_init
+check_lib '' SSE '-msse -msse2'
 check_pkgconf EXYNOS libdrm_exynos
 
 if [ "$LIBRETRO" ]; then
diff --git a/qb/qb.libs.sh b/qb/qb.libs.sh
index d99fe58462..976ca7c53f 100644
--- a/qb/qb.libs.sh
+++ b/qb/qb.libs.sh
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ check_enabled()
 # $1 = language
 # $2 = HAVE_$2
 # $3 = lib
-# $4 = function in lib
-# $5 = extralibs
+# $4 = function in lib [checked only if non-empty]
+# $5 = extralibs [checked only if non-empty]
 # $6 = headers [checked only if non-empty]
 # $7 = critical error message [checked only if non-empty]
 check_lib()