diff --git a/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/CMakeLists.txt b/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/CMakeLists.txt
index d98b30be81a4..b1ec9e4b12f2 100644
--- a/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,29 @@ if(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR)
   project("NEC Aurora Offloading Build Wrapper Tools" CXX)
 endif()
 
+# Set Clang and RVClang target compiler variables
+if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES RELEASE)
+  set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_CLANG
+      "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/clang"
+      CACHE
+      FILEPATH
+      "Path to clang used as VE target compiler")
+  set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_RVCLANG
+      "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/rvclang"
+      CACHE FILEPATH
+      "Path to rvclang used as VE target compiler")
+else() # most likely there won't be an install step
+  set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_CLANG
+      "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/clang"
+      CACHE
+      FILEPATH
+      "Path to clang used as VE target compiler")
+  set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_RVCLANG
+      "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/rvclang"
+      CACHE FILEPATH
+      "Path to rvclang used as VE target compiler")
+endif()
+
 # Find NEC target compiler.
 find_program(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_NCC
   NAMES
@@ -13,29 +36,25 @@ find_program(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_NCC
   PATHS
     "/opt/nec/ve/bin/"
     ENV PATH)
+
 # It is okay if we do not find ncc, we can fallback to Clang or RVCLang and
 # will handlle the missing ncc in code.
 if (NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_NCC)
-    set(TARGET_COMPILER_NCC "${NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_NCC}")
+  set(TARGET_COMPILER_NCC "${NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_NCC}")
+  set(NECAURORA_DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER
+      "ncc"
+      CACHE STRING
+      "Default target compiler for NEC OpenMP target (-fopenmp-nec-compiler=<this_value>)")
 else()
-    message(WARNING "Could not find ncc compiler. ncc will not be available as VE target compiler")
+  set(TARGET_COMPILER_NCC "ncc") # We check whether it exists at runtime
+  set(NECAURORA_DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER
+      "${NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_CLANG}"
+      CACHE STRING
+      "Default target compiler for NEC OpenMP target (-fopenmp-nec-compiler=<this_value>)")
+  message(WARNING "Could not find ncc compiler. ncc might not be available as VE target compiler")
 endif()
 
-# Set Clang and RVClang target compiler variables
-set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_CLANG
-    "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/clang"
-    CACHE
-    FILEPATH
-    "Path to clang used as VE target compiler")
-set(NECAURORA_TARGET_COMPILER_RVCLANG
-    "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/rvclang"
-    CACHE FILEPATH
-    "Path to rvclang used as VE target compiler")
 
-set(NECAURORA_DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER
-    "ncc"
-    CACHE STRING
-    "Default target compiler for NEC OpenMP target (-fopenmp-nec-compiler=<this_value>)")
 message("OMPT for SX-Aurora: Using the default target compiler option \"${NECAURORA_DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER}\"" )
 
 find_library(
diff --git a/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/utils.cpp b/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/utils.cpp
index 2252fbbe8af1..91e8e5eb97e5 100644
--- a/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/utils.cpp
+++ b/clang/tools/nec-aurora-build/utils.cpp
@@ -25,13 +25,20 @@ int configureTargetCompiler(const std::string& CompilerName) {
               << std::endl;
 
   }
+  // We can assume the first two to exist
   if (CompilerName == "clang")   { CompilerCmd = ClangCompilerCmd; return 0; }
   if (CompilerName == "rvclang") { CompilerCmd = RVClangCompilerCmd; return 0; }
-  if (CompilerName == "ncc")     { CompilerCmd = NCCCompilerCmd; return 0; }
+  if (CompilerName == "ncc")     {
+    CompilerCmd = NCCCompilerCmd;
+    auto ret = std::system((CompilerCmd + " --version").c_str());
+    if (ret == 0) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+  }
   std::cerr << "nec-aurora-build: -fopenmp-nec-compiler=" << CompilerCmd
-            << " not recognized"
+            << " not recognized. Aborting."
             << std::endl;
-  return 1;
+  exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // it does not make any sense to continue here
 }
 
 
@@ -39,7 +46,7 @@ const char *getTargetCompiler() {
   // If no option was specified on the command line chose the builtin default
   if (CompilerCmd.empty()) {
 #ifndef DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER_OPTION
-#error "DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER_OPTION not specified during build!" 
+#error "DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER_OPTION not specified during build!"
 #endif
     configureTargetCompiler(DEFAULT_TARGET_COMPILER_OPTION);
   }