diff --git a/build/.cachesalt b/build/.cachesalt
index 2d4b0cf2154..cf053dd3b9b 100644
--- a/build/.cachesalt
+++ b/build/.cachesalt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2020-12-15T15:34:44.634Z
+2020-12-17T07:59:24.060Z
diff --git a/build/azure-pipelines/linux/product-build-linux.yml b/build/azure-pipelines/linux/product-build-linux.yml
index 5b258aec975..f5f1cd2d384 100644
--- a/build/azure-pipelines/linux/product-build-linux.yml
+++ b/build/azure-pipelines/linux/product-build-linux.yml
@@ -76,12 +76,19 @@ steps:
 
   - script: |
       set -e
-      if [ -z "$CC" ] || [ -z "$CXX" ]
-      then
+      export npm_config_arch=$(NPM_ARCH)
+
+      if [ -z "$CC" ] || [ -z "$CXX" ]; then
         export CC=$(which gcc-5)
         export CXX=$(which g++-5)
       fi
-      export npm_config_arch=$(NPM_ARCH)
+
+      if [ "$VSCODE_ARCH" == "x64" ]; then
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_CC=$(which gcc-4.8)
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_CXX=$(which g++-4.8)
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_NODE_GYP=$(which node-gyp)
+      fi
+
       for i in {1..3}; do # try 3 times, for Terrapin
         yarn --frozen-lockfile && break
         if [ $i -eq 3 ]; then
@@ -103,16 +110,6 @@ steps:
       vstsFeed: "npm-vscode"
     condition: and(succeeded(), ne(variables['CacheRestored'], 'true'))
 
-  - script: |
-      set -e
-      export CC=$(which gcc-4.8)
-      export CXX=$(which g++-4.8)
-      export npm_config_node_gyp=$(which node-gyp)
-      cd remote && rm -rf node_modules/
-      yarn
-    displayName: Rebuild remote modules with gcc-4.8
-    condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['VSCODE_ARCH'], 'x64'))
-
   - script: |
       set -e
       node build/azure-pipelines/mixin
diff --git a/build/azure-pipelines/product-compile.yml b/build/azure-pipelines/product-compile.yml
index f72cf0151b0..5ef2bfd6ba4 100644
--- a/build/azure-pipelines/product-compile.yml
+++ b/build/azure-pipelines/product-compile.yml
@@ -70,11 +70,19 @@ steps:
 
   - script: |
       set -e
-      if [ -z "$CC" ] || [ -z "$CXX" ]
-      then
+      export npm_config_arch=$(NPM_ARCH)
+
+      if [ -z "$CC" ] || [ -z "$CXX" ]; then
         export CC=$(which gcc-5)
         export CXX=$(which g++-5)
       fi
+
+      if [ "$VSCODE_ARCH" == "x64" ]; then
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_CC=$(which gcc-4.8)
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_CXX=$(which g++-4.8)
+        export VSCODE_REMOTE_NODE_GYP=$(which node-gyp)
+      fi
+
       for i in {1..3}; do # try 3 times, for Terrapin
         yarn --frozen-lockfile && break
         if [ $i -eq 3 ]; then
diff --git a/build/npm/postinstall.js b/build/npm/postinstall.js
index 8f8b0019a77..88d10e2f2ff 100644
--- a/build/npm/postinstall.js
+++ b/build/npm/postinstall.js
@@ -34,7 +34,14 @@ function yarnInstall(location, opts) {
 yarnInstall('extensions'); // node modules shared by all extensions
 
 if (!(process.platform === 'win32' && (process.arch === 'arm64' || process.env['npm_config_arch'] === 'arm64'))) {
-	yarnInstall('remote'); // node modules used by vscode server
+	const env = { ...process.env };
+	if (process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_CC']) { env['CC'] = process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_CC']; }
+	if (process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_CXX']) { env['CXX'] = process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_CXX']; }
+	if (process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_NODE_GYP']) { env['npm_config_node_gyp'] = process.env['VSCODE_REMOTE_NODE_GYP']; }
+
+	console.log('remote yarn install env', JSON.stringify(env, undefined, '  '));
+
+	yarnInstall('remote', { env }); // node modules used by vscode server
 	yarnInstall('remote/web'); // node modules used by vscode web
 }