diff --git a/package/heirloom-mailx/heirloom-mailx.mk b/package/heirloom-mailx/heirloom-mailx.mk
index 2b28a3fc40..b1779c0bb1 100644
--- a/package/heirloom-mailx/heirloom-mailx.mk
+++ b/package/heirloom-mailx/heirloom-mailx.mk
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL),y)
 HEIRLOOM_MAILX_DEPENDENCIES += openssl
 endif
 
+define HEIRLOOM_MAILX_CONFIGURE_CMDS
+	(cd $(@D); $(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) $(SHELL) ./makeconfig)
+endef
+
 define HEIRLOOM_MAILX_BUILD_CMDS
 	$(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) $(MAKE) -C $(@D)
 endef