diff --git a/elements/components/nettle.bst b/elements/components/nettle.bst
index 026050dd..4f174374 100644
--- a/elements/components/nettle.bst
+++ b/elements/components/nettle.bst
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ variables:
   # /bin/sh: line 1: ./desdata: Text file busy
   notparallel: true
 
+  # Work around for crashing qemu when stripping cross-built aarch64 libraries.
+  optimize-debug: "false"
+
 public:
   bst:
     split-rules: