diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6d972620dd..d91231c5eb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -150,7 +150,6 @@ endif
 # Need that early, before we scan packages
 # Avoids doing the $(or...) everytime
 BR_GRAPH_OUT := $(or $(BR2_GRAPH_OUT),pdf)
-BR_GRAPH_DEPTH := $(or $(BR2_GRAPH_DEPTH),0)
 
 BUILD_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/build
 BINARIES_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/images
@@ -675,7 +674,7 @@ graph-build: $(O)/build/build-time.log
 graph-depends:
 	@$(INSTALL) -d $(O)/graphs
 	@cd "$(CONFIG_DIR)"; \
-	$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/graph-depends -d $(BR_GRAPH_DEPTH) \
+	$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/graph-depends $(BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS) \
 	|tee $(O)/graphs/$(@).dot \
 	|dot -T$(BR_GRAPH_OUT) -o $(O)/graphs/$(@).$(BR_GRAPH_OUT)
 
diff --git a/docs/manual/common-usage.txt b/docs/manual/common-usage.txt
index 3d5842d333..772982af5c 100644
--- a/docs/manual/common-usage.txt
+++ b/docs/manual/common-usage.txt
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ to +make+ or set in the environment:
   build-time graphs
 * +BR2_GRAPH_OUT+ to set the filetype of generated graphs, either +pdf+ (the
   default), or +png+.
-* +BR2_GRAPH_DEPTH+ (an integer) to limit the depth of the dependency graph.
-  The default, +0+, is to not limit the depth.
+* +BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS+ to pass extra options to the dependency graph; see
+  xref:graph-depends[] for the accepted options
 
 An example that uses config files located in the toplevel directory and
 in your $HOME:
@@ -198,6 +198,16 @@ supported.
 BR2_GRAPH_OUT=svg make graph-depends
 --------------------------------
 
+The +graph-depends+ behaviour can be controlled by setting options in the
++BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS+ environment variable. The accepted options are:
+
+* +--depth N+, +-d N+, to limit the dependency depth to +N+ levels. The
+  default, +0+, means no limit.
+
+--------------------------------
+BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS='-d 3' make graph-depends
+--------------------------------
+
 === Graphing the build duration
 
 [[graph-duration]]
diff --git a/foo b/foo
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/package/pkg-generic.mk b/package/pkg-generic.mk
index 6eca6d4714..426d269971 100644
--- a/package/pkg-generic.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-generic.mk
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ $(1)-show-depends:
 $(1)-graph-depends:
 			@$(INSTALL) -d $(O)/graphs
 			@cd "$(CONFIG_DIR)"; \
-			$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/graph-depends -p $(1) -d $(BR_GRAPH_DEPTH) \
+			$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/graph-depends -p $(1) $(BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS) \
 			|tee $(O)/graphs/$$(@).dot \
 			|dot -T$(BR_GRAPH_OUT) -o $(O)/graphs/$$(@).$(BR_GRAPH_OUT)