diff --git a/waftools/checks/custom.py b/waftools/checks/custom.py
index 698742406f..3af9bdb921 100644
--- a/waftools/checks/custom.py
+++ b/waftools/checks/custom.py
@@ -92,6 +92,18 @@ def check_wl_protocols(ctx, dependency_identifier):
         return ret
     return fn(ctx, dependency_identifier)
 
+def _run(cmd):
+    from waflib import Utils
+    try:
+        cmd = Utils.subprocess.Popen(cmd,
+                                     stdout=Utils.subprocess.PIPE,
+                                     stderr=Utils.subprocess.PIPE,
+                                     shell=True)
+        output = cmd.stdout.read().strip()
+        return output
+    except Exception:
+        return ""
+
 def check_cocoa(ctx, dependency_identifier):
     fn = check_cc(
         fragment         = load_fragment('cocoa.m'),
@@ -100,7 +112,15 @@ def check_cocoa(ctx, dependency_identifier):
         includes         = ctx.srcnode.abspath(),
         linkflags        = '-fobjc-arc')
 
-    return fn(ctx, dependency_identifier)
+    res = fn(ctx, dependency_identifier)
+    # on macOS we explicitly need to set the SDK path, otherwise it can lead to
+    # linking warnings or errors
+    if res:
+        ctx.env.append_value('LINKFLAGS', [
+            '-isysroot', '%s' % _run('xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path')
+        ])
+
+    return res
 
 def check_openal(ctx, dependency_identifier):
     checks = [