diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 49cf12d..f6596c2 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 Changelog for hydra
 -------------------
 
+Release 8.5-dev
+* ./configure now honors the CC enviroment variable if present
+* Favor strrchr() over rindex()
+
+
 Release 8.4
 ! Reports came in that the rdp module is not working reliable sometimes, most likely against new Windows versions. please test, report and if possible send a fix
 * Proxy support re-implemented:
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 90969e4..bc66cfa 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@ if [ "$1" = "-h" -o "$1" = "--help" ]; then
   echo "  --nostrip                  do not per default strip binaries before install"
   echo "  --debug                    show debug output to trace errors"
   echo "  --help                     this here"
+  echo
+  echo If the CC environment variable is set, this is used as the compiler for the configure tests. The default is \"gcc\" otherwise.
   exit 0
 fi
 
+test -z "$CC" && CC=gcc
+
 FHS=""
 SIXFOUR=""
 DEBUG=""
@@ -966,37 +970,37 @@ fi
 
 echo "Checking for Android specialities ..."
 TMPC=comptest$$
-RINDEX=" not"
+STRRCHR=" not"
 echo '#include <stdio.h>' > $TMPC.c
 echo '#include <strings.h>' >> $TMPC.c
-echo "int main() { char *x = rindex(\"test\", 'e'); if (x == NULL) return 0; else return 1; }" >> $TMPC.c
-gcc -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2>&1
-test -x $TMPC && RINDEX=""
+echo "int main() { char *x = strrchr(\"test\", 'e'); if (x == NULL) return 0; else return 1; }" >> $TMPC.c
+$CC -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2>&1
+test -x $TMPC && STRRCHR=""
 rm -f $TMPC $TMPC.c
-echo "                                  ... rindex()$RINDEX found"
+echo "                                  ... strrchr()$STRRCHR found"
 if [ -n "$CRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
   RSA=" not"
   echo '#include <stdio.h>' > $TMPC.c
   echo '#include <openssl/rsa.h>' >> $TMPC.c
   echo "int main() { RSA *rsa = RSA_generate_key(1024, RSA_F4, NULL, NULL); if (rsa == NULL) return 0; else return 1; }" >> $TMPC.c
 #echo "int main() { RSA *rsa; RSA_generate_key_ex(rsa, 1024, 0, NULL); if (rsa == NULL) return 0; else return 1; }" >> $TMPC.c
-  gcc -o $TMPC $TMPC.c -lssl -lcrypto > /dev/null 2>&1
+  $CC -o $TMPC $TMPC.c -lssl -lcrypto > /dev/null 2>&1
   test -x $TMPC && RSA=""
   rm -f $TMPC $TMPC.c
   echo "                                  ... RSA_generate_key()$RSA found"
 fi
 
-echo "Checking for secure compile option support in gcc ..."
+echo "Checking for secure compile option support in $CC ..."
 GCCSEC="no"
 LDSEC="no"
 GCCSECOPT="-fstack-protector-all --param ssp-buffer-size=4 -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2"
 echo '#include <stdio.h>' > $TMPC.c
 echo 'int main() { printf(""); return 0; }' >> $TMPC.c
-gcc -pie -fPIE $GCCSEPOPT -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2> $TMPC.c.err
+$CC -pie -fPIE $GCCSEPOPT -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2> $TMPC.c.err
 test -x $TMPC && GCCSEC="yes"
 grep -q fPI $TMPC.c.err || GCCSECOPT="-pie -fPIE $GCCSECOPT"
 rm -f "$TMPC"
-gcc $GCCSECOPT -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,relro -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2> $TMPC.c.err
+$CC $GCCSECOPT -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,relro -o $TMPC $TMPC.c > /dev/null 2> $TMPC.c.err
 test -x $TMPC && { LDSEC="yes" ; GCCSECOPT="$GCCSECOPT -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-z,relro" ; }
 rm -f $TMPC $TMPC.c $TMPC.c.err
 echo "                                                  Compiling... $GCCSEC"
@@ -1060,8 +1064,8 @@ fi
 if [ -n "$SSH_PATH" ]; then
     XDEFINES="$XDEFINES -DLIBSSH"
 fi
-if [ -n "$RINDEX" ]; then
-    XDEFINES="$XDEFINES -DNO_RINDEX"
+if [ -n "$STRRCHR" ]; then
+    XDEFINES="$XDEFINES -DNO_STRRCHR"
 fi
 if [ -n "$RSA" ]; then
     XDEFINES="$XDEFINES -DNO_RSA_LEGACY"
diff --git a/hydra-nntp.c b/hydra-nntp.c
index 890a5a6..bfa3108 100644
--- a/hydra-nntp.c
+++ b/hydra-nntp.c
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ char *nntp_read_server_capacity(int sock) {
           buf[strlen(buf) - 1] = 0;
         if (buf[strlen(buf) - 1] == '\r')
           buf[strlen(buf) - 1] = 0;
-#ifdef NO_RINDEX
-        if ((ptr = strrchr(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
-#else
+#ifdef NO_STRRCHR
         if ((ptr = rindex(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
+#else
+        if ((ptr = strrchr(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
 #endif
           ptr++;
           if (isdigit((int) *ptr) && *(ptr + 3) == ' ')
diff --git a/hydra-smtp.c b/hydra-smtp.c
index 92ebe61..1f40110 100644
--- a/hydra-smtp.c
+++ b/hydra-smtp.c
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ char *smtp_read_server_capacity(int sock) {
           buf[strlen(buf) - 1] = 0;
         if (buf[strlen(buf) - 1] == '\r')
           buf[strlen(buf) - 1] = 0;
-#ifdef NO_RINDEX
-        if ((ptr = strrchr(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
-#else
+#ifdef NO_STRRCHR
         if ((ptr = rindex(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
+#else
+        if ((ptr = strrchr(buf, '\n')) != NULL) {
 #endif
           ptr++;
           if (isdigit((int) *ptr) && *(ptr + 3) == ' ')
diff --git a/hydra.c b/hydra.c
index 7c022e7..19eab9e 100644
--- a/hydra.c
+++ b/hydra.c
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ char *SERVICES =
 #define RESTOREFILE "./hydra.restore"
 
 #define PROGRAM   "Hydra"
-#define VERSION   "v8.4"
+#define VERSION   "v8.5-dev"
 #define AUTHOR    "van Hauser/THC"
 #define EMAIL     "<vh@thc.org>"
 #define RESOURCE  "http://www.thc.org/thc-hydra"