diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index fc84bc7bd..e145e013a 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import sysconfig
+import tempfile
 import time
 from contextlib import suppress
 from functools import partial
@@ -211,25 +212,26 @@ def get_sanitize_args(cc: str, ccver: Tuple[int, int]) -> List[str]:
     return sanitize_args
 
 
-def test_compile(cc: str, *cflags: str, src: Optional[str] = None) -> bool:
+def test_compile(cc: str, *cflags: str, src: Optional[str] = None, lang: str = 'c') -> bool:
     src = src or 'int main(void) { return 0; }'
-    p = subprocess.Popen(
-        [cc] + list(cflags) + ['-x', 'c', '-o', os.devnull, '-'],
-        stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, stdin=subprocess.PIPE
-    )
-    stdin = p.stdin
-    assert stdin is not None
-    try:
-        stdin.write(src.encode('utf-8'))
-        stdin.close()
-    except BrokenPipeError:
-        return False
-    return p.wait() == 0
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdir:
+        p = subprocess.Popen(
+            [cc] + list(cflags) + ['-x', lang, '-o', os.devnull, '-'], cwd=tdir,
+            stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+        )
+        stdin = p.stdin
+        assert stdin is not None
+        try:
+            stdin.write(src.encode('utf-8'))
+            stdin.close()
+        except BrokenPipeError:
+            return False
+        return p.wait() == 0
 
 
-def first_successful_compile(cc: str, *cflags: str, src: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
+def first_successful_compile(cc: str, *cflags: str, src: Optional[str] = None, lang: str = 'c') -> str:
     for x in cflags:
-        if test_compile(cc, *shlex.split(x), src=src):
+        if test_compile(cc, *shlex.split(x), src=src, lang=lang):
             return x
     return ''
 
@@ -340,7 +342,10 @@ def kitty_env() -> Env:
         platform_libs = [
             '-framework', 'CoreText', '-framework', 'CoreGraphics',
         ]
-        user_notifications_framework = first_successful_compile(ans.cc, '-framework UserNotifications')
+        test_program_src = '''#include <UserNotifications/UserNotifications.h>
+        int main(void) { return 0; }\n'''
+        user_notifications_framework = first_successful_compile(ans.cc, ' -framework UserNotifications',
+                                                                src=test_program_src, lang='objective-c')
         if user_notifications_framework:
             platform_libs.extend(shlex.split(user_notifications_framework))
         else: