diff --git a/meta/recipes-support/libffi/libffi_3.2.1.bb b/meta/recipes-support/libffi/libffi_3.2.1.bb
index 72e25fb9d5..42ab1087f3 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-support/libffi/libffi_3.2.1.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-support/libffi/libffi_3.2.1.bb
@@ -23,4 +23,8 @@ inherit autotools texinfo
 
 FILES_${PN}-dev += "${libdir}/libffi-${PV}"
 
+# Doesn't compile in MIPS16e mode due to use of hand-written
+# assembly
+MIPS_INSTRUCTION_SET = "mips16"
+
 BBCLASSEXTEND = "native nativesdk"