diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/kernel-arch.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/kernel-arch.bbclass
index 749a266ea3..7aea9cd3e8 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/kernel-arch.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/kernel-arch.bbclass
@@ -81,4 +81,4 @@ KERNEL_AR = "${HOST_PREFIX}ar ${HOST_AR_KERNEL_ARCH}"
 KERNEL_OBJCOPY = "${HOST_PREFIX}objcopy ${HOST_OBJCOPY_KERNEL_ARCH}"
 # Code in package.py can't handle options on KERNEL_STRIP
 KERNEL_STRIP = "${HOST_PREFIX}strip"
-TOOLCHAIN ?= "gcc"
+TOOLCHAIN = "gcc"