diff --git a/waftools/checks/custom.py b/waftools/checks/custom.py
index 14e59f3f49..698742406f 100644
--- a/waftools/checks/custom.py
+++ b/waftools/checks/custom.py
@@ -100,15 +100,7 @@ def check_cocoa(ctx, dependency_identifier):
         includes         = ctx.srcnode.abspath(),
         linkflags        = '-fobjc-arc')
 
-    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', ctx.env.MACOS_SDK
-        ])
-
-    return res
+    return fn(ctx, dependency_identifier)
 
 def check_openal(ctx, dependency_identifier):
     checks = [
diff --git a/wscript_build.py b/wscript_build.py
index 4627a9fcd5..7814958fe2 100644
--- a/wscript_build.py
+++ b/wscript_build.py
@@ -152,6 +152,13 @@ def build(ctx):
                               bridge, header, tgt, src)
         return task.exec_command(cmd)
 
+    if ctx.dependency_satisfied('cocoa') and ctx.env.MACOS_SDK:
+        # on macOS we explicitly need to set the SDK path, otherwise it can lead to
+        # linking warnings or errors
+        ctx.env.append_value('LINKFLAGS', [
+            '-isysroot', ctx.env.MACOS_SDK
+        ])
+
     if ctx.dependency_satisfied('macos-cocoa-cb'):
         swift_source = [
             ( "video/out/cocoa_cb_common.swift" ),