diff --git a/package/mdadm/mdadm.mk b/package/mdadm/mdadm.mk
index 3ee4ddd059..b2ed5049aa 100644
--- a/package/mdadm/mdadm.mk
+++ b/package/mdadm/mdadm.mk
@@ -10,13 +10,17 @@ MDADM_SITE = $(BR2_KERNEL_MIRROR)/linux/utils/raid/mdadm
 MDADM_LICENSE = GPL-2.0+
 MDADM_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
 
+MDADM_BUILD_OPTS = $(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) \
+	CFLAGS="$(TARGET_CFLAGS) -DNO_COROSYNC -DNO_DLM" \
+	CPPFLAGS="$(TARGET_CPPFLAGS) -DBINDIR=\\\"/sbin\\\"" \
+	CHECK_RUN_DIR=0
+
+ifeq ($(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS),)
+MDADM_BUILD_OPTS += USE_PTHREADS=
+endif
+
 define MDADM_BUILD_CMDS
-	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(@D) \
-		$(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) \
-		CFLAGS="$(TARGET_CFLAGS) -DNO_COROSYNC -DNO_DLM" \
-		CPPFLAGS="$(TARGET_CPPFLAGS) -DBINDIR=\\\"/sbin\\\"" \
-		CHECK_RUN_DIR=0 \
-		mdadm mdmon
+	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(@D) $(MDADM_BUILD_OPTS) mdadm mdmon
 endef
 
 define MDADM_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS