diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ENV.rb b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ENV.rb
index 2ea1127c10..aeb24efc58 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ENV.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ENV.rb
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ Please take one of the following actions:
   def cc;      self['CC'] or "gcc";  end
   def cxx;     self['CXX'] or "g++"; end
   def cflags;  self['CFLAGS'];       end
+  def cxxflags;self['CXXFLAGS'];     end
   def cppflags;self['CPPLAGS'];      end
   def ldflags; self['LDFLAGS'];      end