diff --git a/projects/gnu.org/gcc/v8/package.yml b/projects/gnu.org/gcc/v8/package.yml
index b6002c76a2..c19820ab6c 100644
--- a/projects/gnu.org/gcc/v8/package.yml
+++ b/projects/gnu.org/gcc/v8/package.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ versions:
   # Pin to the 8.x line — drop everything else.
   ignore:
     - /^[0-79]\./
+    - /^9\./
     - /^[1-9][0-9]/
 
 # Linux only. Darwin's old SDK situation makes gcc 8 hard to bring
@@ -29,21 +30,20 @@ platforms:
   - linux
 
 dependencies:
-  gnu.org/binutils: "*"
+  gnu.org/binutils: '*'
   gnu.org/gmp: ~6
   gnu.org/mpfr: ~4
   gnu.org/mpc: ~1
   zlib.net: ^1.3
-  pkgx.sh: ">=1"
 
 build:
   dependencies:
     linux:
-      gnu.org/gcc: "*" # bootstrap with current gcc
-    perl.org: "*"
-    gnu.org/patch: "*"
-    curl.se: "*"
-    github.com/westes/flex: "*"
+      gnu.org/gcc: '*'   # bootstrap with current gcc
+    perl.org: '*'
+    gnu.org/patch: '*'
+    curl.se: '*'
+    github.com/westes/flex: '*'
 
   working-directory: build
   script:
@@ -57,13 +57,9 @@ build:
     # relative path to binutils needs `../../../../` (4 levels).
     - run:
         - ln -sf gcc cc
-        - install -m755 $PROP ar
-        - install -m755 $PROP nm
-        - install -m755 $PROP ranlib
-      prop: |
-        #!/bin/sh
-        TOOL=$(basename "$0")
-        exec pkgx +gnu.org/binutils "$TOOL" "$@"
+        - ln -sf ../../../../binutils/v\*/bin/ar ar
+        - ln -sf ../../../../binutils/v\*/bin/nm nm
+        - ln -sf ../../../../binutils/v\*/bin/ranlib ranlib
       working-directory: "{{prefix}}/bin"
 
   env:
@@ -82,24 +78,20 @@ build:
       CXXFLAGS: -fPIC
 
 test:
-  - gcc --version | tee out
-  - grep "pkgx GCC {{version}}" out
-  - gcc -dumpversion | tee out
-  - grep "^8\." out
+  - gcc --version | grep -q "pkgx GCC {{version}}"
+  - gcc -dumpversion | grep -q "^8\."
 
-# it's not wise to publish these, since this is a legacy compiler.
-# if people want it, they'll invoke it explicitly.
-# provides:
-#   - bin/ar
-#   - bin/cc
-#   - bin/c++
-#   - bin/cpp
-#   - bin/g++
-#   - bin/gcc
-#   - bin/gcc-ar
-#   - bin/gcc-nm
-#   - bin/gcc-ranlib
-#   - bin/gcov
-#   - bin/gfortran
-#   - bin/nm
-#   - bin/ranlib
+provides:
+  - bin/ar
+  - bin/cc
+  - bin/c++
+  - bin/cpp
+  - bin/g++
+  - bin/gcc
+  - bin/gcc-ar
+  - bin/gcc-nm
+  - bin/gcc-ranlib
+  - bin/gcov
+  - bin/gfortran
+  - bin/nm
+  - bin/ranlib