diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 787dc3ef2..6c82b7845 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ br-%-dirclean:
 		$(OUTPUT_DIR)/target
 	#  \ sed -i /^$(subst -dirclean,,$(subst br-,,$@))/d $(OUTPUT_DIR)/build/packages-file-list.txt
 
-br-%:
+br-%: defconfig
 	$(BR2_MAKE) $(subst br-,,$@)
 
 buildroot/Makefile: