diff --git a/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass b/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
index df740af41d..b315737fd2 100644
--- a/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ do_savedefconfig() {
 do_savedefconfig[nostamp] = "1"
 addtask savedefconfig after do_configure
 
-inherit cml1
+inherit cml1 pkgconfig
 
 # Need LD, HOSTLDFLAGS and more for config operations
 KCONFIG_CONFIG_COMMAND:append = " ${EXTRA_OEMAKE}"
diff --git a/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto-dev.bb b/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto-dev.bb
index 403993486b..94800aeaca 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto-dev.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto-dev.bb
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 
 inherit kernel
 require recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto.inc
-# for ncurses tests
-inherit pkgconfig
 
 # provide this .inc to set specific revisions
 include recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto-dev-revisions.inc
diff --git a/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto.inc b/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto.inc
index 7ea661e138..1f8289b6b6 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto.inc
+++ b/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto.inc
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ LINUX_VERSION_EXTENSION ??= "-yocto-${LINUX_KERNEL_TYPE}"
 # Pick up shared functions
 inherit kernel
 inherit kernel-yocto
-inherit pkgconfig
 
 B = "${WORKDIR}/linux-${PACKAGE_ARCH}-${LINUX_KERNEL_TYPE}-build"