diff --git a/include/package.mk b/include/package.mk
index 7ae95f8fe..5a9ba861a 100644
--- a/include/package.mk
+++ b/include/package.mk
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ else
 endif
 
 include $(INCLUDE_DIR)/prereq.mk
+include $(INCLUDE_DIR)/host.mk
 
 define shvar
 V_$(subst .,_,$(subst -,_,$(subst /,_,$(1))))
diff --git a/rules.mk b/rules.mk
index 73611029a..b9859dbd3 100644
--- a/rules.mk
+++ b/rules.mk
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 #
 
 -include $(TOPDIR)/.config
-include $(TOPDIR)/include/host.mk
 include $(TOPDIR)/include/verbose.mk
 
 export SHELL=/usr/bin/env bash -c '. $(TOPDIR)/include/shell.sh; eval "$$2"' --