diff --git a/support/scripts/br2-external b/support/scripts/br2-external
index 038525e01d..848c851ba9 100755
--- a/support/scripts/br2-external
+++ b/support/scripts/br2-external
@@ -142,10 +142,10 @@ do_mk() {
         br2_ext="${BR2_EXT_PATHS["${br2_name}"]}"
         printf '\n'
         printf 'BR2_EXTERNAL_NAMES += %s\n' "${br2_name}"
-        printf 'BR2_EXTERNAL_%s_PATH = %s\n' "${br2_name}" "${br2_ext}"
-        printf 'BR2_EXTERNAL_%s_DESC = %s\n' "${br2_name}" "${br2_desc}"
         printf 'BR2_EXTERNAL_DIRS += %s\n' "${br2_ext}"
         printf 'BR2_EXTERNAL_MKS += %s/external.mk\n' "${br2_ext}"
+        printf 'export BR2_EXTERNAL_%s_PATH = %s\n' "${br2_name}" "${br2_ext}"
+        printf 'export BR2_EXTERNAL_%s_DESC = %s\n' "${br2_name}" "${br2_desc}"
     done
 }