diff --git a/boot/uboot/uboot.mk b/boot/uboot/uboot.mk
index 6b6d67990a..0bc036f3cb 100644
--- a/boot/uboot/uboot.mk
+++ b/boot/uboot/uboot.mk
@@ -500,7 +500,11 @@ UBOOT_DEPENDENCIES += \
 $(eval $(generic-package))
 else ifeq ($(BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_BUILD_SYSTEM_KCONFIG),y)
 UBOOT_MAKE_ENV = $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV)
+# Starting with 2021.10, the kconfig in uboot calls the cross-compiler
+# to check its capabilities. So we need the toolchain before we can
+# call the configurators.
 UBOOT_KCONFIG_DEPENDENCIES += \
+	toolchain \
 	$(BR2_MAKE_HOST_DEPENDENCY) \
 	$(BR2_BISON_HOST_DEPENDENCY) \
 	$(BR2_FLEX_HOST_DEPENDENCY)