diff --git a/package/iw/iw.mk b/package/iw/iw.mk
index df6e25711a..1286915a6b 100644
--- a/package/iw/iw.mk
+++ b/package/iw/iw.mk
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ IW_MAKE_OPTS = CC="$(TARGET_CC)" LD="$(TARGET_LD)" LDFLAGS="$(TARGET_LDFLAGS)"
 IW_MAKE_ENV = PKG_CONFIG="$(HOST_DIR)/usr/bin/pkg-config" \
 	GIT_DIR=$(IW_DIR)
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y)
-# libnl needs pthread/m, so we need to explicitly with them when static
-# these need to added AFTER libnl, so we have to override LIBS completely
-IW_MAKE_OPTS += LIBS='-lnl-genl-3 -lnl-3 -lpthread -lm'
-endif
-
 define IW_BUILD_CMDS
 	$(IW_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) $(IW_MAKE_OPTS) -C $(@D)
 endef