diff --git a/v2/tools/gcc.jam b/v2/tools/gcc.jam
index d767436d6..1870e6827 100644
--- a/v2/tools/gcc.jam
+++ b/v2/tools/gcc.jam
@@ -75,8 +75,11 @@ rule init ( version ? : command * : options * )
     #   Autodetect the version and flavor if not given.
     if $(command)
     {
+        # The 'command' variable can have multiple-element. When calling
+        # the SHELL builtin we need a single string.
+        local command-string = $(command:J=" ") ;
         local command-info = [ MATCH "^[^ ]+[ ]+[^ ]+[ ]+([^ ]+)[^(]*[(]?([^)]*)"
-            : [ SHELL "$(command) --version" ] ] ;
+            : [ SHELL "$(command-string) --version" ] ] ;
         version ?= $(command-info[1]) ;
         switch $(command-info[2]:L)
         {