diff --git a/package/libselinux/libselinux.mk b/package/libselinux/libselinux.mk
index dd68ad9298..b8ef4f5fba 100644
--- a/package/libselinux/libselinux.mk
+++ b/package/libselinux/libselinux.mk
@@ -13,13 +13,10 @@ LIBSELINUX_DEPENDENCIES = libsepol pcre
 
 LIBSELINUX_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
 
-# Filter out D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64. This fixes errors caused by glibc 2.22.
 # Set SHLIBDIR to /usr/lib so it has the same value than LIBDIR, as a result
 # we won't have to use a relative path in 0002-revert-ln-relative.patch
 LIBSELINUX_MAKE_OPTS = \
 	$(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) \
-	CFLAGS="$(filter-out -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64,$(TARGET_CFLAGS))" \
-	LDFLAGS="$(TARGET_LDFLAGS) -lpcre -lpthread" \
 	ARCH=$(KERNEL_ARCH) \
 	SHLIBDIR=/usr/lib
 
@@ -54,6 +51,14 @@ define LIBSELINUX_BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS
 endef
 endif # python || python3
 
+# Filter out D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64. This fixes errors caused by glibc
+# 2.22. We set CFLAGS and LDFLAGS here because we want to win over the
+# CFLAGS/LDFLAGS definitions passed by $(PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_ENV)
+# when the python binding is enabled.
+LIBSELINUX_MAKE_OPTS += \
+	CFLAGS="$(filter-out -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64,$(TARGET_CFLAGS))" \
+	LDFLAGS="$(TARGET_LDFLAGS) -lpcre -lpthread"
+
 define LIBSELINUX_BUILD_CMDS
 	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(@D) \
 		$(LIBSELINUX_MAKE_OPTS) all