diff --git a/meta/classes/base.bbclass b/meta/classes/base.bbclass
index 3ad3842fad..1c284b750c 100644
--- a/meta/classes/base.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/base.bbclass
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ die() {
 }
 
 oe_runmake() {
-	if [ x"$MAKE" = x ]; then MAKE=make; fi
 	bbnote ${MAKE} ${EXTRA_OEMAKE} "$@"
 	${MAKE} ${EXTRA_OEMAKE} "$@" || die "oe_runmake failed"
 }