diff --git a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/eclass/coreos-kernel.eclass b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/eclass/coreos-kernel.eclass
index b8ff160c9d..9257bbb342 100644
--- a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/eclass/coreos-kernel.eclass
+++ b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/eclass/coreos-kernel.eclass
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ kmake() {
 	if gcc-specs-pie; then
 		kernel_cflags="-nopie -fstack-check=no"
 	fi
+	# this can be removed once it is exported globally again
+	export CCACHE_BASEDIR="${S}"
 	emake \
 		ARCH="${kernel_arch}" \
 		CROSS_COMPILE="${CHOST}-" \