diff --git a/package/qemu/qemu.mk b/package/qemu/qemu.mk
index 33e6938774..8f95ea0362 100644
--- a/package/qemu/qemu.mk
+++ b/package/qemu/qemu.mk
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_QEMU_SDL),y)
 QEMU_OPTS += --enable-sdl
 QEMU_DEPENDENCIES += sdl2
-QEMU_VARS += SDL2_CONFIG=$(BR2_STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin/sdl2-config
+QEMU_VARS += SDL2_CONFIG=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin/sdl2-config
 else
 QEMU_OPTS += --disable-sdl
 endif