diff --git a/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky.conf b/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky.conf
index 6e9bdc38cf..6625a11f07 100644
--- a/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky.conf
+++ b/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky.conf
@@ -64,3 +64,6 @@ BB_SIGNATURE_HANDLER ?= "OEEquivHash"
 BB_HASHSERVE ??= "auto"
 
 INIT_MANAGER = "sysvinit"
+
+# We need debug symbols so that SPDX license manifests for the kernel work
+KERNEL_EXTRA_FEATURES:append = " features/debug/debug-kernel.scc"