diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/bblock.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/bblock.py
index 2b62d2a0aa..cb99d32bb5 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/bblock.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/bblock.py
@@ -122,11 +122,11 @@ class BBLock(OESelftestTestCase):
         else:
             machine = "qemux86-64"
 
-        self.write_config('MACHINE = "%s"\n' % machine)
+        self.write_config('MACHINE:forcevariable = "%s"\n' % machine)
 
         self.lock_recipes(recipes, tasks)
 
-        self.write_config('MACHINE = "%s"\n' % self.td["MACHINE"])
+        self.write_config('MACHINE:forcevariable = "%s"\n' % self.td["MACHINE"])
         # modify quilt's do_compile task
         self.modify_tasks(recipes, tasks)
 
diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/fitimage.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/fitimage.py
index 3c40857747..195b9ee8b5 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/fitimage.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/fitimage.py
@@ -787,7 +787,7 @@ FIT_CONF_PREFIX = "foo-"
 
         config = """
 DISTRO = "poky"
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 """
         self.write_config(config)
 
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
         """
         config = """
 # Enable creation of fitImage
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 # Add a devicetree overlay which does not need kernel sources
 PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/dtb = "bbb-dtbs-as-ext"
 """
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/dtb = "bbb-dtbs-as-ext"
         # Generate a configuration section which gets included into the local.conf file
         config = """
 # Enable creation of fitImage
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 UBOOT_SIGN_ENABLE = "1"
 UBOOT_SIGN_KEYDIR = "${TOPDIR}/signing-keys"
 UBOOT_SIGN_KEYNAME = "dev"
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ FIT_CONF_DEFAULT_DTB = "am335x-bonegreen.dtb"
         # Generate a configuration section which gets included into the local.conf file
         config = """
 # Enable creation of fitImage
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 UBOOT_SIGN_ENABLE = "1"
 FIT_GENERATE_KEYS = "1"
 UBOOT_SIGN_KEYDIR = "${TOPDIR}/signing-keys"
@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@ UBOOT_MKIMAGE_SIGN_ARGS = "-c 'a smart comment'"
 
         config = """
 DISTRO = "poky"
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 INITRAMFS_IMAGE = "core-image-minimal-initramfs"
 INITRAMFS_SCRIPTS = ""
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am335x_evm_defconfig"
@@ -993,7 +993,7 @@ FIT_HASH_ALG = "sha256"
 
         config = """
 DISTRO = "poky"
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 INITRAMFS_IMAGE_BUNDLE = "1"
 INITRAMFS_IMAGE = "core-image-minimal-initramfs"
 INITRAMFS_SCRIPTS = ""
@@ -1412,7 +1412,7 @@ class UBootFitImageTests(FitImageTestCase):
         """
         config = """
 # We need at least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 SPL_BINARY = "MLO"
 
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ UBOOT_FIT_DESC = "A model description"
         config = """
 # There's no U-boot defconfig with CONFIG_FIT_SIGNATURE yet, so we need at
 # least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 SPL_BINARY = "MLO"
 # Enable creation and signing of the U-Boot fitImage
@@ -1498,7 +1498,7 @@ UBOOT_FIT_HASH_ALG = "sha256"
         config = """
 # There's no U-boot deconfig with CONFIG_FIT_SIGNATURE yet, so we need at
 # least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 SPL_BINARY = "MLO"
 # Enable creation and signing of the U-Boot fitImage
@@ -1546,7 +1546,7 @@ UBOOT_SIGN_KEYNAME = "cfg-oe-selftest"
         """
         config = """
 # We need at least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 SPL_BINARY = "MLO"
 
@@ -1612,7 +1612,7 @@ UBOOT_FIT_ARM_TRUSTED_FIRMWARE_ENTRYPOINT = "0x80280000"
         config = """
 # There's no U-boot deconfig with CONFIG_FIT_SIGNATURE yet, so we need at
 # least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 SPL_BINARY = "MLO"
 # Enable creation and signing of the U-Boot fitImage
@@ -1676,7 +1676,7 @@ UBOOT_FIT_ARM_TRUSTED_FIRMWARE_ENTRYPOINT = "0x80280000"
         """
         config = """
 # Enable creation of fitImage
-MACHINE = "beaglebone-yocto"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "beaglebone-yocto"
 UBOOT_SIGN_ENABLE = "1"
 UBOOT_SIGN_KEYDIR = "${TOPDIR}/signing-keys"
 UBOOT_SIGN_KEYNAME = "the-kernel-config-key"
@@ -1715,7 +1715,7 @@ FIT_SIGN_INDIVIDUAL = "1"
         config = """
 # There's no U-boot defconfig with CONFIG_FIT_SIGNATURE yet, so we need at
 # least CONFIG_SPL_LOAD_FIT and CONFIG_SPL_OF_CONTROL set
-MACHINE = "qemuarm"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemuarm"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "am57xx_evm_defconfig"
 # Enable creation and signing of the U-Boot fitImage (no SPL)
 UBOOT_FITIMAGE_ENABLE = "1"
diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/sstatetests.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/sstatetests.py
index 08f94b168a..44dd674a32 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/sstatetests.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/sstatetests.py
@@ -336,20 +336,20 @@ class SStateCacheManagement(SStateBase):
     def test_sstate_cache_management_script_using_pr_3(self):
         global_config = []
         target_config = []
-        global_config.append('MACHINE = "qemux86-64"')
+        global_config.append('MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86-64"')
         target_config.append('PR = "0"')
         global_config.append(global_config[0])
         target_config.append('PR = "1"')
-        global_config.append('MACHINE = "qemux86"')
+        global_config.append('MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86"')
         target_config.append('PR = "1"')
         self.run_test_sstate_cache_management_script('m4', global_config,  target_config, ignore_patterns=['populate_lic'])
 
     def test_sstate_cache_management_script_using_machine(self):
         global_config = []
         target_config = []
-        global_config.append('MACHINE = "qemux86-64"')
+        global_config.append('MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86-64"')
         target_config.append('')
-        global_config.append('MACHINE = "qemux86"')
+        global_config.append('MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86"')
         target_config.append('')
         self.run_test_sstate_cache_management_script('m4', global_config,  target_config, ignore_patterns=['populate_lic'])
 
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ class SStateHashSameSigs(SStateBase):
     def sstate_hashtest(self, sdkmachine):
 
         self.write_config("""
-MACHINE = "qemux86"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86"
 TMPDIR = "${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash"
 BUILD_ARCH = "x86_64"
 BUILD_OS = "linux"
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
         self.track_for_cleanup(self.topdir + "/tmp-sstatesamehash")
         bitbake("core-image-weston -S none")
         self.write_config("""
-MACHINE = "qemux86"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "qemux86"
 TMPDIR = "${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash2"
 BUILD_ARCH = "i686"
 BUILD_OS = "linux"
@@ -454,13 +454,13 @@ class SStateHashSameSigs2(SStateBase):
 
         configA = """
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86-64\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86-64\"
 BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
 """
         #OLDEST_KERNEL is arch specific so set to a different value here for testing
         configB = """
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash2\"
-MACHINE = \"qemuarm\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemuarm\"
 OLDEST_KERNEL = \"3.3.0\"
 BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
 ERROR_QA:append = " somenewoption"
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ WARN_QA:append = " someotheroption"
 
         configA = """
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86-64\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86-64\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = \"multilib:lib32\"
 DEFAULTTUNE:virtclass-multilib-lib32 = \"x86\"
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
 """
         configB = """
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash2\"
-MACHINE = \"qemuarm\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemuarm\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = \"\"
 BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ class SStateHashSameSigs3(SStateBase):
 
         self.write_config("""
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = "multilib:lib32"
 DEFAULTTUNE:virtclass-multilib-lib32 = "x86"
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
         bitbake("world meta-toolchain -S none")
         self.write_config("""
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash2\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86copy\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86copy\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = "multilib:lib32"
 DEFAULTTUNE:virtclass-multilib-lib32 = "x86"
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
 
         self.write_config("""
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = "multilib:lib32"
 DEFAULTTUNE:virtclass-multilib-lib32 = "x86"
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
         bitbake("binutils-native  -S none")
         self.write_config("""
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstatesamehash2\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86copy\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86copy\"
 BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER = "OEBasicHash"
 """)
         self.track_for_cleanup(self.topdir + "/tmp-sstatesamehash2")
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ class SStateFindSiginfo(SStateBase):
         """
         self.write_config("""
 TMPDIR = \"${TOPDIR}/tmp-sstates-findsiginfo\"
-MACHINE = \"qemux86-64\"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = \"qemux86-64\"
 require conf/multilib.conf
 MULTILIBS = "multilib:lib32"
 DEFAULTTUNE:virtclass-multilib-lib32 = "x86"
@@ -957,13 +957,13 @@ class SStateMirrors(SStateCheckObjectPresence):
         if check_cdn:
             self.config_sstate(True)
             self.append_config("""
-MACHINE = "{}"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "{}"
 BB_HASHSERVE_UPSTREAM = "hashserv.yoctoproject.org:8686"
 SSTATE_MIRRORS ?= "file://.* http://sstate.yoctoproject.org/all/PATH;downloadfilename=PATH"
 """.format(machine))
         else:
             self.append_config("""
-MACHINE = "{}"
+MACHINE:forcevariable = "{}"
 """.format(machine))
         result = bitbake("-DD -n {}".format(targets))
         bitbake("-S none {}".format(targets))