diff --git a/tools/mkimage/Makefile b/tools/mkimage/Makefile
index d274106d7c..7a4b0c1a34 100644
--- a/tools/mkimage/Makefile
+++ b/tools/mkimage/Makefile
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ define Host/Configure
 		HOSTLDFLAGS="$(HOST_LDFLAGS)" \
 		PKG_CONFIG_EXTRAARGS="--static" \
 		V=$(if $(findstring c,$(OPENWRT_VERBOSE)),1) \
-		tools-only_config
+		tools-only_defconfig
 
 	$(HOST_BUILD_DIR)/scripts/config \
 		--file $(HOST_BUILD_DIR)/.config \