Index: Lib/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -137,7 +137,8 @@
     # __init__ ()
 
 
-    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts):
+    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts,
+                 target_lang):
         if ext == '.rc' or ext == '.res':
             # gcc needs '.res' and '.rc' compiled to object files !!!
             try:
@@ -145,8 +146,18 @@
             except DistutilsExecError, msg:
                 raise CompileError, msg
         else: # for other files use the C-compiler
+            if target_lang == 'c++':
+                # Use C++ compiler but combine unique arguments from both
+                # C and C++ compilers
+                compiler = [self.compiler_cxx[0]]
+                for token in self.compiler_cxx[1:]:
+                    if token not in self.compiler_so[1:]:
+                        compiler.append(token)
+                compiler += self.compiler_so[1:]
+            else:
+                compiler = self.compiler_so
             try:
-                self.spawn(self.compiler_so + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
+                self.spawn(compiler + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
                            extra_postargs)
             except DistutilsExecError, msg:
                 raise CompileError, msg
Index: Lib/distutils/mwerkscompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/mwerkscompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/mwerkscompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@
                  debug=0,
                  extra_preargs=None,
                  extra_postargs=None,
-                 depends=None):
+                 depends=None,
+                 target_lang=None):
         (output_dir, macros, include_dirs) = \
            self._fix_compile_args (output_dir, macros, include_dirs)
         self.__sources = sources
Index: Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -349,7 +349,8 @@
 
     def compile(self, sources,
                 output_dir=None, macros=None, include_dirs=None, debug=0,
-                extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, depends=None):
+                extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, depends=None,
+                target_lang=None):
 
         if not self.initialized: self.initialize()
         macros, objects, extra_postargs, pp_opts, build = \
Index: Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@
 
     def compile(self, sources, output_dir=None, macros=None,
                 include_dirs=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None,
-                extra_postargs=None, depends=None):
+                extra_postargs=None, depends=None, target_lang=None):
         """Compile one or more source files.
 
         'sources' must be a list of filenames, most likely C/C++
@@ -678,6 +678,9 @@
         supports dependency tracking, but only at a coarse
         granularity.
 
+        'target_lang' is a string that specifies the language of the
+        sources.
+
         Raises CompileError on failure.
         """
 
@@ -694,12 +697,14 @@
                 src, ext = build[obj]
             except KeyError:
                 continue
-            self._compile(obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts)
+            self._compile(obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts,
+                          target_lang)
 
         # Return *all* object filenames, not just the ones we just built.
         return objects
 
-    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts):
+    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts,
+                 target_lang):
         """Compile 'src' to product 'obj'."""
 
         # A concrete compiler class that does not override compile()
Index: Lib/distutils/bcppcompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/bcppcompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/bcppcompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@
 
     def compile(self, sources,
                 output_dir=None, macros=None, include_dirs=None, debug=0,
-                extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, depends=None):
+                extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, depends=None,
+                target_lang=None):
 
         macros, objects, extra_postargs, pp_opts, build = \
                 self._setup_compile(output_dir, macros, include_dirs, sources,
Index: Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -165,12 +165,22 @@
             except DistutilsExecError, msg:
                 raise CompileError, msg
 
-    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts):
-        compiler_so = self.compiler_so
+    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts,
+                 target_lang):
+        if target_lang == 'c++':
+            # Use C++ compiler but combine unique arguments from both
+            # C and C++ compilers
+            compiler = [self.compiler_cxx[0]]
+            for token in self.compiler_cxx[1:]:
+                if token not in self.compiler_so[1:]:
+                    compiler.append(token)
+            compiler += self.compiler_so[1:]
+        else:
+            compiler = self.compiler_so
         if sys.platform == 'darwin':
-            compiler_so = _darwin_compiler_fixup(compiler_so, cc_args + extra_postargs)
+            compiler = _darwin_compiler_fixup(compiler, cc_args + extra_postargs)
         try:
-            self.spawn(compiler_so + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
+            self.spawn(compiler + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
                        extra_postargs)
         except DistutilsExecError, msg:
             raise CompileError, msg
Index: Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py	(working copy)
@@ -472,13 +472,17 @@
         for undef in ext.undef_macros:
             macros.append((undef,))
 
+        # Detect target language, if not provided
+        language = ext.language or self.compiler.detect_language(sources)
+
         objects = self.compiler.compile(sources,
                                         output_dir=self.build_temp,
                                         macros=macros,
                                         include_dirs=ext.include_dirs,
                                         debug=self.debug,
                                         extra_postargs=extra_args,
-                                        depends=ext.depends)
+                                        depends=ext.depends,
+                                        target_lang=language)
 
         # XXX -- this is a Vile HACK!
         #
@@ -498,9 +502,6 @@
             objects.extend(ext.extra_objects)
         extra_args = ext.extra_link_args or []
 
-        # Detect target language, if not provided
-        language = ext.language or self.compiler.detect_language(sources)
-
         self.compiler.link_shared_object(
             objects, ext_filename,
             libraries=self.get_libraries(ext),
Index: Lib/distutils/emxccompiler.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/emxccompiler.py	(revision 76451)
+++ Lib/distutils/emxccompiler.py	(working copy)
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@
 
     # __init__ ()
 
-    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts):
+    def _compile(self, obj, src, ext, cc_args, extra_postargs, pp_opts,
+                 target_lang):
         if ext == '.rc':
             # gcc requires '.rc' compiled to binary ('.res') files !!!
             try:
@@ -82,8 +83,18 @@
             except DistutilsExecError, msg:
                 raise CompileError, msg
         else: # for other files use the C-compiler
+            if target_lang == 'c++':
+                # Use C++ compiler but combine unique arguments from both
+                # C and C++ compilers
+                compiler = [self.compiler_cxx[0]]
+                for token in self.compiler_cxx[1:]:
+                    if token not in self.compiler_so[1:]:
+                        compiler.append(token)
+                compiler += self.compiler_so[1:]
+            else:
+                compiler = self.compiler_so
             try:
-                self.spawn(self.compiler_so + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
+                self.spawn(compiler + cc_args + [src, '-o', obj] +
                            extra_postargs)
             except DistutilsExecError, msg:
                 raise CompileError, msg