diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3a66674dbe324abdf79a795d8869f40000c6ad86..7005bb73d079b24d33614d0da800776fec884f00 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ def get_config_schema():
                 ]
 
         default_libs = []
+        from pkg_resources import parse_version
+        if parse_version(osx_ver) < parse_version('10.12'):  # before Sierra
+            default_cxxflags = default_cxxflags + ['-stdlib=libc++']
         default_cxxflags = default_cxxflags + [
-                '-stdlib=libc++', '-mmacosx-version-min=10.7',
+                '-mmacosx-version-min=10.7',
                 '-arch', 'i386', '-arch', 'x86_64'
                 ]