diff --git a/package/boost/boost.mk b/package/boost/boost.mk
index 8d745ecc72..e72ddf897c 100644
--- a/package/boost/boost.mk
+++ b/package/boost/boost.mk
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ BOOST_OPTS += --no-cmake-config \
 	     toolset=gcc \
 	     threading=multi \
 	     abi=$(BOOST_ABI) \
-	     variant=$(if $(BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG),debug,release)
+	     variant=$(if $(BR2_ENABLE_RUNTIME_DEBUG),debug,release)
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_sparc64),y)
 BOOST_OPTS += architecture=sparc instruction-set=ultrasparc