diff --git a/testsuite/driver/cpu_features.py b/testsuite/driver/cpu_features.py
index f6c441d88f4c2472f17525bb9d5138d767d37097..4ab1e65a65685f1b3298088f34ff3e11cc02e28f 100644
--- a/testsuite/driver/cpu_features.py
+++ b/testsuite/driver/cpu_features.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ SUPPORTED_CPU_FEATURES = {
 cpu_feature_cache = None
 
 def get_cpu_features():
+    # we're testing a cross ghc, don't attempt to detect host cpu
+    # configuration
+    if config.target_wrapper is not None:
+        return {}
+
     if config.os in ['mingw32', 'linux'] and os.path.exists('/proc/cpuinfo'):
         with open('/proc/cpuinfo') as x:
             f = x.read()