diff --git a/Makefile.system b/Makefile.system
index 62ba0e4667..5dffd8d2e2 100644
--- a/Makefile.system
+++ b/Makefile.system
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(OSNAME), Darwin)
 ifndef MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
-export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.6
+export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.8
 endif
 MD5SUM = md5 -r
 endif