diff --git a/cc/private/toolchain/unix_cc_configure.bzl b/cc/private/toolchain/unix_cc_configure.bzl
index 3a93f9ff..a1806802 100644
--- a/cc/private/toolchain/unix_cc_configure.bzl
+++ b/cc/private/toolchain/unix_cc_configure.bzl
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ def configure_unix_toolchain(repository_ctx, cpu_value, overridden_tools):
     conly_opts = split_escaped(get_env_var(
         repository_ctx,
         "BAZEL_CONLYOPTS",
-        "",
+        "-std=c17",
         False,
     ), ":")