diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c4c96f1569b6f..c702dd52247f6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -462,9 +462,9 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cc"
-version = "1.2.16"
+version = "1.2.21"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "be714c154be609ec7f5dad223a33bf1482fff90472de28f7362806e6d4832b8c"
+checksum = "8691782945451c1c383942c4874dbe63814f61cb57ef773cda2972682b7bb3c0"
 dependencies = [
  "jobserver",
  "libc",
@@ -1325,6 +1325,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.59.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "find-msvc-tools"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e178e4fba8a2726903f6ba98a6d221e76f9c12c650d5dc0e6afdc50677b49650"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "flate2"
 version = "1.1.2"
@@ -3521,7 +3527,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "ar_archive_writer",
  "bitflags",
  "bstr",
- "cc",
+ "find-msvc-tools",
  "itertools",
  "libc",
  "object 0.37.3",
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/Cargo.toml b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/Cargo.toml
index 2dfbc58164323..e61764dff2b04 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/Cargo.toml
+++ b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ edition = "2024"
 ar_archive_writer = "0.5"
 bitflags = "2.4.1"
 bstr = "1.11.3"
-# `cc` updates often break things, so we pin it here. Cargo enforces "max 1 semver-compat version
-# per crate", so if you change this, you need to also change it in `rustc_llvm`.
-cc = "=1.2.16"
+# `find-msvc-tools` updates often break things, so we pin it here.
+find-msvc-tools = "=0.1.0"
 itertools = "0.12"
 pathdiff = "0.2.0"
 regex = "1.4"
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/link.rs b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/link.rs
index 48b01ea2df197..371f2c1a6a299 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/link.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/link.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::{Output, Stdio};
 use std::{env, fmt, fs, io, mem, str};
 
-use cc::windows_registry;
+use find_msvc_tools;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use regex::Regex;
 use rustc_arena::TypedArena;
@@ -877,9 +877,9 @@ fn link_natively(
                     // All Microsoft `link.exe` linking ror codes are
                     // four digit numbers in the range 1000 to 9999 inclusive
                     if is_msvc_link_exe && (code < 1000 || code > 9999) {
-                        let is_vs_installed = windows_registry::find_vs_version().is_ok();
+                        let is_vs_installed = find_msvc_tools::find_vs_version().is_ok();
                         let has_linker =
-                            windows_registry::find_tool(&sess.target.arch, "link.exe").is_some();
+                            find_msvc_tools::find_tool(&sess.target.arch, "link.exe").is_some();
 
                         sess.dcx().emit_note(errors::LinkExeUnexpectedError);
 
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/linker.rs b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/linker.rs
index a2efd420a327a..dff9f1eb06288 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/linker.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_codegen_ssa/src/back/linker.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use std::io::prelude::*;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::{env, io, iter, mem, str};
 
-use cc::windows_registry;
+use find_msvc_tools;
 use rustc_hir::def_id::{CrateNum, LOCAL_CRATE};
 use rustc_metadata::{
     find_native_static_library, try_find_native_dynamic_library, try_find_native_static_library,
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ pub(crate) fn get_linker<'a>(
     self_contained: bool,
     target_cpu: &'a str,
 ) -> Box<dyn Linker + 'a> {
-    let msvc_tool = windows_registry::find_tool(&sess.target.arch, "link.exe");
+    let msvc_tool = find_msvc_tools::find_tool(&sess.target.arch, "link.exe");
 
     // If our linker looks like a batch script on Windows then to execute this
     // we'll need to spawn `cmd` explicitly. This is primarily done to handle
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ pub(crate) fn get_linker<'a>(
     if sess.target.is_like_msvc
         && let Some(ref tool) = msvc_tool
     {
-        cmd.args(tool.args());
         for (k, v) in tool.env() {
             if k == "PATH" {
                 new_path.extend(env::split_paths(v));
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_llvm/Cargo.toml b/compiler/rustc_llvm/Cargo.toml
index cd352ce3d0f4f..d12a01b4dc31b 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_llvm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/compiler/rustc_llvm/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ libc = "0.2.73"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 # tidy-alphabetical-start
-# `cc` updates often break things, so we pin it here. Cargo enforces "max 1 semver-compat version
-# per crate", so if you change this, you need to also change it in `rustc_codegen_ssa`.
-cc = "=1.2.16"
+# `cc` updates often break things, so we pin it here.
+cc = "=1.2.21"
 # tidy-alphabetical-end
 
 [features]
diff --git a/src/tools/tidy/src/deps.rs b/src/tools/tidy/src/deps.rs
index 560f11ecf50ec..93410997f486f 100644
--- a/src/tools/tidy/src/deps.rs
+++ b/src/tools/tidy/src/deps.rs
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@ const PERMITTED_RUSTC_DEPENDENCIES: &[&str] = &[
     "expect-test",
     "fallible-iterator", // dependency of `thorin`
     "fastrand",
+    "find-msvc-tools",
     "flate2",
     "fluent-bundle",
     "fluent-langneg",