diff --git a/package/icu/icu.mk b/package/icu/icu.mk
index 259017886c..e89290adc9 100644
--- a/package/icu/icu.mk
+++ b/package/icu/icu.mk
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ HOST_ICU_CONF_OPTS = \
 	--disable-icuio \
 	--disable-layout \
 	--disable-renaming
-ICU_MAKE = $(MAKE1)
 ICU_SUBDIR = source
 HOST_ICU_SUBDIR = source