diff --git a/include/include_asset.h b/include/include_asset.h
index 0e53e62e52..b867825eb7 100644
--- a/include/include_asset.h
+++ b/include/include_asset.h
@@ -3,15 +3,24 @@
 #define ASTRINGIFY_(x) #x
 #define ASTRINGIFY(x) ASTRINGIFY_(x)
 
+#ifdef MODERN_COMPILER
+#  define PUSHSECTION(SECTION) ".pushsection " SECTION "\n"
+#  define POPSECTION ".popsection\n"
+#else
+#  define PUSHSECTION(SECTION) SECTION "\n"
+#  define POPSECTION
+#endif
+
 #define _INCLUDE_IMG(FILENAME, SYMBOLNAME) \
     extern unsigned char SYMBOLNAME[]; \
     __asm__( \
         ".globl " #SYMBOLNAME"\n" \
-        ".data\n" \
+        PUSHSECTION(".data") \
         ".align 2\n" \
         ".type " #SYMBOLNAME", @object\n" \
         #SYMBOLNAME":\n" \
         ".incbin \"ver/"ASTRINGIFY(VERSION)"/build/" FILENAME ".bin\"\n" \
+        POPSECTION \
     )
 
 // two macros are needed for N() usage
@@ -22,11 +31,12 @@
     extern unsigned short SYMBOLNAME[]; \
     __asm__( \
         ".globl " #SYMBOLNAME"\n" \
-        ".data\n" \
+        PUSHSECTION(".data") \
         ".align 2\n" \
         ".type " #SYMBOLNAME", @object\n" \
         #SYMBOLNAME":\n" \
         ".incbin \"ver/"ASTRINGIFY(VERSION)"/build/" FILENAME ".bin\"\n" \
+        POPSECTION \
     )
 
 #endif // _H_INCLUDE_ASSET
diff --git a/install_deps.sh b/install_deps.sh
index f58dfa4955..2a1a6fecf7 100755
--- a/install_deps.sh
+++ b/install_deps.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ if cat /etc/os-release | grep -E 'ID=debian|ID_LIKE=(.*)debian' &> /dev/null; th
 
     echo "Installing packages for Debian or derivative (apt)"
 
-    ${SUDO} apt install -y curl git python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools build-essential binutils-mips-linux-gnu zlib1g-dev libyaml-dev ninja-build cpp-mips-linux-gnu || exit 1
+    ${SUDO} apt install -y curl git python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools build-essential binutils-mips-linux-gnu zlib1g-dev libyaml-dev ninja-build cpp-mips-linux-gnu gcc-mips-linux-gnu || exit 1
     python3 -m pip install -U -r requirements.txt
     cp tools/precommit_check_no_assets.sh "$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks)/pre-commit" || exit 1
 
diff --git a/tools/build/configure.py b/tools/build/configure.py
index 1a846fc726..17fdbe45a6 100755
--- a/tools/build/configure.py
+++ b/tools/build/configure.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def write_ninja_rules(
 
     cflags = f"-c -G0 -O2 -gdwarf-2 -x c -B {BUILD_TOOLS}/cc/gcc/ {extra_cflags}"
 
-    cflags_modern = f"-c -G0 -O2 -gdwarf-2 -fdiagnostics-color=always -fno-builtin-bcopy -fno-tree-loop-distribute-patterns -funsigned-char -mgp32 -mfp32 -mabi=32 -mfix4300 -march=vr4300 -mno-gpopt -fno-toplevel-reorder -mno-abicalls -fno-pic -fno-exceptions -fno-stack-protector -fno-zero-initialized-in-bss -Wno-builtin-declaration-mismatch -x c {extra_cflags}"
+    cflags_modern = f"-c -G0 -O2 -gdwarf-2 -fdiagnostics-color=always -fno-builtin-bcopy -fno-tree-loop-distribute-patterns -funsigned-char -mgp32 -mfp32 -mabi=32 -mfix4300 -march=vr4300 -mno-gpopt -fno-toplevel-reorder -mno-abicalls -fno-pic -fno-exceptions -fno-stack-protector -fno-zero-initialized-in-bss -Wno-builtin-declaration-mismatch -DMODERN_COMPILER -x c {extra_cflags}"
 
     cflags_272 = f"-c -G0 -mgp32 -mfp32 -mips3 {extra_cflags}"
     cflags_272 = cflags_272.replace("-ggdb3", "-g1")