diff --git a/package/iw/iw.mk b/package/iw/iw.mk
index 6f3f309485..925a770992 100644
--- a/package/iw/iw.mk
+++ b/package/iw/iw.mk
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ IW_LICENSE = ISC
 IW_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
 IW_DEPENDENCIES = host-pkgconf libnl
 IW_MAKE_OPTS = CC="$(TARGET_CC)" LD="$(TARGET_LD)" LDFLAGS="$(TARGET_LDFLAGS)"
-IW_MAKE_ENV = PKG_CONFIG="$(HOST_DIR)/usr/bin/pkg-config" \
+IW_MAKE_ENV = \
+	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) \
+	PKG_CONFIG="$(HOST_DIR)/usr/bin/pkg-config" \
 	GIT_DIR=$(IW_DIR)
 
 define IW_BUILD_CMDS