diff --git a/arch/mips/Makefile b/arch/mips/Makefile
index 98ca855d992c..151e98698f76 100644
--- a/arch/mips/Makefile
+++ b/arch/mips/Makefile
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ KBUILD_CFLAGS += -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables
 
 KBUILD_LDFLAGS		+= -m $(ld-emul)
 
-ifdef CONFIG_MIPS
+ifdef need-compiler
 CHECKFLAGS += $(shell $(CC) $(KBUILD_CFLAGS) -dM -E -x c /dev/null | \
 	egrep -vw '__GNUC_(MINOR_|PATCHLEVEL_)?_' | \
 	sed -e "s/^\#define /-D'/" -e "s/ /'='/" -e "s/$$/'/" -e 's/\$$/&&/g')