diff --git a/build/make/configure.sh b/build/make/configure.sh
index 75279b9b97f7a3eb8c6fd5eb370d45f829cfffa8..f8329aacd7dd2f773a49bc46351a446c670d360a 100755
--- a/build/make/configure.sh
+++ b/build/make/configure.sh
@@ -979,8 +979,10 @@ EOF
     fi
 
     # append any user defined extra cflags
-    check_add_cflags ${extra_cflags} || \
-    die "Requested extra CFLAGS '${extra_cflags}' not supported by compiler"
+    if [ -n "${extra_cflags}" ] ; then
+        check_add_cflags ${extra_cflags} || \
+        die "Requested extra CFLAGS '${extra_cflags}' not supported by compiler"
+    fi
 }
 
 process_toolchain() {