diff --git a/easybuild/easyblocks/b/binutils.py b/easybuild/easyblocks/b/binutils.py
index 40213b1ca4..6bc27f5413 100644
--- a/easybuild/easyblocks/b/binutils.py
+++ b/easybuild/easyblocks/b/binutils.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 from easybuild.tools.filetools import apply_regex_substitutions, copy_file
 from easybuild.tools.modules import get_software_libdir, get_software_root
 from easybuild.tools.run import run_cmd
-from easybuild.tools.systemtools import get_shared_lib_ext
+from easybuild.tools.systemtools import RISCV, get_cpu_family, get_shared_lib_ext
 from easybuild.tools.utilities import nub
 
 
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ def extra_options(extra_vars=None):
         })
         return extra_vars
 
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Easyblock constructor"""
+        super(EB_binutils, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        # ld.gold linker is not supported on RISC-V
+        self.use_gold = get_cpu_family() != RISCV
+
     def determine_used_library_paths(self):
         """Check which paths are used to search for libraries"""
 
@@ -158,7 +165,9 @@ def configure_step(self):
 
         # enable gold linker with plugin support, use ld as default linker (for recent versions of binutils)
         if LooseVersion(self.version) > LooseVersion('2.24'):
-            self.cfg.update('configopts', "--enable-gold --enable-plugins --enable-ld=default")
+            self.cfg.update('configopts', "--enable-plugins --enable-ld=default")
+            if self.use_gold:
+                self.cfg.update('configopts', '--enable-gold')
 
         if LooseVersion(self.version) >= LooseVersion('2.34'):
             if self.cfg['use_debuginfod']:
@@ -221,8 +230,9 @@ def sanity_check_step(self):
         shlib_ext = get_shared_lib_ext()
 
         if LooseVersion(self.version) > LooseVersion('2.24'):
-            binaries.append('ld.gold')
             lib_exts.append(shlib_ext)
+            if self.use_gold:
+                binaries.append('ld.gold')
 
         bin_paths = [os.path.join('bin', b) for b in binaries]
         inc_paths = [os.path.join('include', h) for h in headers]
diff --git a/easybuild/easyblocks/g/gcc.py b/easybuild/easyblocks/g/gcc.py
index 3983fc1a62..dbe1039c54 100644
--- a/easybuild/easyblocks/g/gcc.py
+++ b/easybuild/easyblocks/g/gcc.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@
 from easybuild.tools.filetools import which, write_file
 from easybuild.tools.modules import get_software_root
 from easybuild.tools.run import run_cmd
-from easybuild.tools.systemtools import check_os_dependency, get_os_name, get_os_type
-from easybuild.tools.systemtools import get_cpu_architecture, get_gcc_version, get_shared_lib_ext
+from easybuild.tools.systemtools import RISCV, check_os_dependency, get_cpu_architecture, get_cpu_family
+from easybuild.tools.systemtools import get_gcc_version, get_shared_lib_ext, get_os_name, get_os_type
 from easybuild.tools.toolchain.compiler import OPTARCH_GENERIC
 from easybuild.tools.utilities import nub
 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def extra_options():
             'prefer_lib_subdir': [False, "Configure GCC to prefer 'lib' subdirs over 'lib64' when linking", CUSTOM],
             'profiled': [False, "Bootstrap GCC with profile-guided optimizations", CUSTOM],
             'use_gold_linker': [None, "Configure GCC to use GOLD as default linker "
-                                      "(default: True for GCC < 11.3.0)", CUSTOM],
+                                      "(default: enable automatically for GCC < 11.3.0, except on RISC-V)", CUSTOM],
             'withcloog': [False, "Build GCC with CLooG support", CUSTOM],
             'withisl': [False, "Build GCC with ISL support", CUSTOM],
             'withlibiberty': [False, "Enable installing of libiberty", CUSTOM],
@@ -526,8 +526,10 @@ def configure_step(self):
         # enable plugin support
         self.configopts += " --enable-plugins "
 
-        # use GOLD as default linker
-        if self.cfg['use_gold_linker']:
+        # use GOLD as default linker, except on RISC-V (since it's not supported there)
+        if get_cpu_family() == RISCV:
+            self.configopts += " --disable-gold --enable-ld=default"
+        elif self.cfg['use_gold_linker']:
             self.configopts += " --enable-gold=default --enable-ld --with-plugin-ld=ld.gold"
         else:
             self.configopts += " --enable-gold --enable-ld=default"