diff --git a/fs/tar/tar.mk b/fs/tar/tar.mk
index 841af14706..92b39f993f 100644
--- a/fs/tar/tar.mk
+++ b/fs/tar/tar.mk
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ TAR_OPTS += --pax-option=exthdr.name=%d/PaxHeaders/%f,atime:=0,ctime:=0
 
 define ROOTFS_TAR_CMD
 	(cd $(TARGET_DIR); find -print0 | LC_ALL=C sort -z | \
-		tar $(TAR_OPTS) -cf $@ --null --xattrs-include='*' --no-recursion -T - --numeric-owner)
+		$(TAR) $(TAR_OPTS) -cf $@ --null --xattrs-include='*' --no-recursion -T - --numeric-owner)
 endef
 
 $(eval $(rootfs))