PKGSRC_COMPILER not working on NetBSD?

[Jeff Rizzo <riz%tastylime.net@localhost>]

Note:  I am probably doing something wrong here.  :)

I'm trying to set up using distcc to help cross-compile pkgsrc packages 
on NetBSD/arm - and I have done this before (albeit several years ago).

However, any time I set PKGSRC_COMPILER (even just setting it to "gcc", 
which I think is the default) in mk.conf, I get errors like:

bpi# make PKG_DEBUG_LEVEL=2
: commands for target _pkgformat-bootstrap-depends; set -x; set -e;true
+ set -e
+ true
ERROR: This package has set PKG_FAIL_REASON:
ERROR: No acceptable compiler found for python33-3.3.6.
*** Error code 1

Stop.
make: stopped in /bulk-data/pkgsrc/lang/python33


...so, am I doing something wrong, or is there a real problem?

Thanks,
+j