diff --git a/check_update.sh b/check_update.sh
index 8fb654d..27a7ca8 100755
--- a/check_update.sh
+++ b/check_update.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ set -e
 SCRIPTDIR=$(cd $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}") && pwd)
 
 # dummy toolchain variables
-export LINUXPKG="linux"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[linux]="linux"
 export LAYERCONF=""
 
 # utilities
diff --git a/layer/bsp-alix/TOOLCHAIN b/layer/bsp-alix/TOOLCHAIN
index 658e82b..c34ec7d 100644
--- a/layer/bsp-alix/TOOLCHAIN
+++ b/layer/bsp-alix/TOOLCHAIN
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-RELEASEPKG="release-alix"
 TARGET="i586-linux-musl"
 GCC_CPU="geode"
 
@@ -7,7 +6,9 @@ CPU_IS_64BIT="no"
 GCC_EXTRACFG="--disable-libmpx --disable-cet"
 BINUTILS_EXTRACFG="--disable-cet"
 
-LINUXPKG="linux"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[linux]="linux"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[release]="release-alix"
+
 LINUX_TGT="bzImage modules"
 
 TC_HARDENING="no"
diff --git a/layer/bsp-qemu64/TOOLCHAIN b/layer/bsp-qemu64/TOOLCHAIN
index be944b0..5a879c1 100644
--- a/layer/bsp-qemu64/TOOLCHAIN
+++ b/layer/bsp-qemu64/TOOLCHAIN
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-RELEASEPKG="release-qemu"
 TARGET="x86_64-linux-musl"
 GCC_CPU="x86-64"
 
@@ -7,7 +6,9 @@ CPU_IS_64BIT="yes"
 GCC_EXTRACFG="--enable-libmpx"
 BINUTILS_EXTRACFG=""
 
-LINUXPKG="linux"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[linux]="linux"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[release]="release-qemu"
+
 LINUX_TGT="bzImage"
 
 TC_HARDENING="no"
diff --git a/layer/bsp-rpi3/TOOLCHAIN b/layer/bsp-rpi3/TOOLCHAIN
index 780e8ae..d739960 100644
--- a/layer/bsp-rpi3/TOOLCHAIN
+++ b/layer/bsp-rpi3/TOOLCHAIN
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-RELEASEPKG="release-rpi3"
 TARGET="arm-linux-musleabihf"
 GCC_CPU="armv6"
 
@@ -7,7 +6,9 @@ CPU_IS_64BIT="no"
 GCC_EXTRACFG="--with-float=hard --with-fpu=neon-vfpv3"
 BINUTILS_EXTRACFG=""
 
-LINUXPKG="linux-rpi3"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[linux]="linux-rpi3"
+PREFERED_PROVIDER[release]="release-rpi3"
+
 LINUX_TGT="zImage dtbs modules"
 
 TC_HARDENING="no"
diff --git a/mk.sh b/mk.sh
index 8869a30..b1ea2b2 100755
--- a/mk.sh
+++ b/mk.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ REPODIR="$BUILDROOT/repo"
 DEPENDSLIST="$BUILDROOT/depends"
 PROVIDESLIST="$BUILDROOT/provides"
 
+declare -A PREFERED_PROVIDER
+
 mkdir -p "$PKGDOWNLOADDIR" "$PKGSRCDIR" "$PKGLOGDIR"
 mkdir -p "$REPODIR"
 
@@ -82,8 +84,8 @@ for pkg in $SCRIPTDIR/pkg/*; do
 	done
 done
 
-pkg buildstrategy -p "$PROVIDESLIST" -d "$DEPENDSLIST" "$RELEASEPKG" \
-    > "$PACKAGELIST"
+pkg buildstrategy -p "$PROVIDESLIST" -d "$DEPENDSLIST" \
+    "${PREFERED_PROVIDER[release]}" > "$PACKAGELIST"
 cat "$PACKAGELIST"
 
 echo "--- building packages ---"
diff --git a/pkg/linux_headers/build b/pkg/linux_headers/build
index ad4d43d..f48c9f8 100755
--- a/pkg/linux_headers/build
+++ b/pkg/linux_headers/build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # inherit package details from kernel package
-source "$SCRIPTDIR/pkg/$LINUXPKG/build"
+source "$SCRIPTDIR/pkg/${PREFERED_PROVIDER[linux]}/build"
 DEPENDS="tc-pkgtool"
 SUBPKG="linux-dev"