diff --git a/bench/Makefile b/bench/Makefile
index 9c5d0210..07df23fc 100644
--- a/bench/Makefile
+++ b/bench/Makefile
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ include ../build-aux/version.mak
 include ../build-aux/dirs.mak
 
 OPTLEVEL?=$(DEFAULT_OPTLEVEL)
-CXXFLAGS?=$(OPTLEVEL)
+CFLAGS?=$(OPTLEVEL)
 
-CXXFLAGS:=$(CXXFLAGS) -Wall -Wextra -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti
+CFLAGS:=$(CFLAGS) -Wall -Wextra
 
 BINARIES:=\
 benchsyscall \
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ install: all
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(BINDIR)
 	install $(BINARIES) $(DESTDIR)$(BINDIR)
 
-%: %.cpp
-	$(CXX) -std=gnu++11 $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) $< -o $@
+%: %.c
+	$(CC) -std=gnu11 $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@
 
 clean:
 	rm -f $(BINARIES) *.o
diff --git a/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp b/bench/benchctxswitch.c
similarity index 96%
rename from bench/benchctxswitch.cpp
rename to bench/benchctxswitch.c
index b3777f7d..6b3f419e 100644
--- a/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp
+++ b/bench/benchctxswitch.c
@@ -15,12 +15,13 @@
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
     this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-    benchctxswitch.cpp
+    benchctxswitch.c
     Benchmarks the speed of context switches.
 
 *******************************************************************************/
 
 #include <err.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ static int uptime(uintmax_t* usecs)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int main(int /*argc*/, char* /*argv*/[])
+int main(void)
 {
 	pid_t slavepid = fork();
 	if ( slavepid < 0 )
diff --git a/bench/benchsyscall.cpp b/bench/benchsyscall.c
similarity index 95%
rename from bench/benchsyscall.cpp
rename to bench/benchsyscall.c
index 274ae117..89c384ea 100644
--- a/bench/benchsyscall.cpp
+++ b/bench/benchsyscall.c
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
     this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-
-    benchsyscall.cpp
+    benchsyscall.c
     Benchmarks the speed of system calls.
 
 *******************************************************************************/
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ static int uptime(uintmax_t* usecs)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int main(int /*argc*/, char* /*argv*/[])
+int main(void)
 {
 	uintmax_t start;
 	if ( uptime(&start) )