diff --git a/packages/linux/unpack b/packages/linux/unpack
index e142af558c..c83a75bbf6 100755
--- a/packages/linux/unpack
+++ b/packages/linux/unpack
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@ sed -i -e "s|^CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=.*$|CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=\"$ROOT/$BUILD
     sed -i -e "s|^CONFIG_DEBUG_FS=.*$|# CONFIG_DEBUG_FS is not set|" $LINUX/.config
   fi
 
-# wipe out nouveau if GRAPHICS_DRIVERS contains nvidia
-  echo $GRAPHIC_DRIVERS | grep "nvidia" &>/dev/null && \
-  sed -i '/NOUVEAU/ d' $LINUX/.config && \
-  echo "# CONFIG_DRM_NOUVEAU is not set" >> $LINUX/.config
+# prevent nouveau from building unless it is the active graphics driver
+  if [ "$GRAPHIC_DRIVERS" != "nouveau" ]; then
+    sed -i -e "s|^CONFIG_DRM_NOUVEAU=.*$|# CONFIG_DRM_NOUVEAU is not set|" $LINUX/.config
+  fi
 
 # copy some extra firmware to linux tree
   cp -R $PKG_DIR/firmware/* $LINUX/firmware