diff --git a/components/mpas-framework/Makefile b/components/mpas-framework/Makefile
index 56fafdbbe0b0..543bb35eca59 100644
--- a/components/mpas-framework/Makefile
+++ b/components/mpas-framework/Makefile
@@ -930,7 +930,13 @@ ifdef MPAS_EXTERNAL_CPPFLAGS
 endif
 ####################################################
 ifeq "$(USE_PIO2)" "true"
-	override LIBS += -lstdc++
+    UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
+    ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
+    	override LIBS += -lc++
+    else
+    	override LIBS += -lstdc++
+    endif
+
 endif
 
 ifeq "$(CONTINUE)" "true"