diff --git a/linux/linux.mk b/linux/linux.mk
index d6b0853518..675e7906a8 100644
--- a/linux/linux.mk
+++ b/linux/linux.mk
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ LINUX_KCONFIG_DEPENDENCIES = \
 	$(BR2_BISON_HOST_DEPENDENCY) \
 	$(BR2_FLEX_HOST_DEPENDENCY)
 
+# Starting with 4.18, the kconfig in the kernel calls the
+# cross-compiler to check its capabilities. So we need the
+# toolchain before we can call the configurators.
+LINUX_KCONFIG_DEPENDENCIES += toolchain
+
 # host tools needed for kernel compression
 ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_LZ4),y)
 LINUX_DEPENDENCIES += host-lz4