diff --git a/package/kexec/kexec.mk b/package/kexec/kexec.mk
index 13b852c8ed..81d35815d8 100644
--- a/package/kexec/kexec.mk
+++ b/package/kexec/kexec.mk
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ KEXEC_MAKE_OPTS = STRIP="$(TARGET_CROSS)strip"
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_KEXEC_ZLIB),y)
 KEXEC_CONF_OPTS += --with-zlib
-KEXEC_DEPENDENCIES = zlib
+KEXEC_DEPENDENCIES += zlib
 else
 KEXEC_CONF_OPTS += --without-zlib
 endif