diff --git a/package/pkg-kconfig.mk b/package/pkg-kconfig.mk
index 40339150c4..40d2f881a3 100644
--- a/package/pkg-kconfig.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-kconfig.mk
@@ -60,18 +60,44 @@ $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FILE) $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FRAGMENT_FILES): | $(1)-patch
 $(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE = \
 	$$($(2)_MAKE_ENV) $$(MAKE) -C $$($(2)_DIR) $$($(2)_KCONFIG_OPTS)
 
+# $(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE may already rely on shell expansion. As the $() syntax
+# of the shell conflicts with Make's own syntax, this means that backticks
+# are used with those shell constructs. Unfortunately, the backtick syntax
+# does not nest, and we need to use Make instead of the shell to handle
+# conditions.
+
+# A recursively expanded variable is necessary, to be sure that the shell
+# command is called when the rule is processed during the build and not
+# when the rule is created when parsing all packages.
+$(2)_KCONFIG_RULES = \
+	$$(shell $$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) -pn config 2>/dev/null | \
+		sed 's/^\([_0-9a-zA-Z]*config\):.*/\1/ p; d')
+
+# The correct way to regenerate a .config file is to use 'make olddefconfig'.
+# For historical reasons, the target name is 'oldnoconfig' between Linux kernel
+# versions 2.6.36 and 3.6, and remains as an alias in later versions.
+# In older versions, and in some other projects that use kconfig, the target is
+# not supported at all, and we use 'yes "" | make oldconfig' as a fallback
+# only, as this can fail in complex cases.
+define $(2)_REGEN_DOT_CONFIG
+	$$(if $$(filter olddefconfig,$$($(2)_KCONFIG_RULES)),
+		$$(Q)$$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) olddefconfig,
+		$$(if $$(filter oldnoconfig,$$($(2)_KCONFIG_RULES)),
+			$$(Q)$$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) oldnoconfig,
+			$$(Q)(yes "" | $$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) oldconfig)))
+endef
+
 # The specified source configuration file and any additional configuration file
 # fragments are merged together to .config, after the package has been patched.
 # Since the file could be a defconfig file it needs to be expanded to a
-# full .config first. We use 'make oldconfig' because this can be safely
-# done even when the package does not support defconfigs.
+# full .config first.
 $$($(2)_DIR)/.config: $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FILE) $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FRAGMENT_FILES)
 	$$(Q)$$(if $$($(2)_KCONFIG_DEFCONFIG), \
 		$$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) $$($(2)_KCONFIG_DEFCONFIG), \
 		cp $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FILE) $$(@))
 	$$(Q)support/kconfig/merge_config.sh -m -O $$(@D) \
 		$$(@) $$($(2)_KCONFIG_FRAGMENT_FILES)
-	$$(Q)yes "" | $$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) oldconfig
+	$$($(2)_REGEN_DOT_CONFIG)
 
 # If _KCONFIG_FILE or _KCONFIG_FRAGMENT_FILES exists, this dependency is
 # already implied, but if we only have a _KCONFIG_DEFCONFIG we have to add
@@ -82,7 +108,7 @@ $$($(2)_DIR)/.config: | $(1)-patch
 # The exact rules are specified by the package .mk file.
 define $(2)_FIXUP_DOT_CONFIG
 	$$($(2)_KCONFIG_FIXUP_CMDS)
-	$$(Q)yes "" | $$($(2)_KCONFIG_MAKE) oldconfig
+	$$($(2)_REGEN_DOT_CONFIG)
 	$$(Q)touch $$($(2)_DIR)/.stamp_kconfig_fixup_done
 endef