diff --git a/newsfragments/4648.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/4648.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..feb8edcc18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/4648.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix cross-platform compilation using ``distutils._msvccompiler.MSVCCompiler`` -- by :user:`saschanaz` and :user:`Avasam`
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setuptools/_distutils/_msvccompiler.py b/setuptools/_distutils/_msvccompiler.py
index 03653929a8..bf10ae2365 100644
--- a/setuptools/_distutils/_msvccompiler.py
+++ b/setuptools/_distutils/_msvccompiler.py
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ def initialize(self, plat_name=None):
                 f"--plat-name must be one of {tuple(_vcvars_names)}"
             )
 
-        plat_spec = _get_vcvars_spec(get_host_platform(), get_platform())
+        plat_spec = _get_vcvars_spec(get_host_platform(), plat_name)
 
         vc_env = _get_vc_env(plat_spec)
         if not vc_env: