diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0870fd4651..59674ce9d7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -572,7 +572,6 @@ TCLTK_PATH = wish
 XGETTEXT = xgettext
 MSGFMT = msgfmt
 CURL_CONFIG = curl-config
-PTHREAD_LIBS = -lpthread
 PTHREAD_CFLAGS =
 GCOV = gcov
 STRIP = strip
@@ -580,6 +579,9 @@ SPATCH = spatch
 
 export TCL_PATH TCLTK_PATH
 
+# Set our default LIBS variables
+PTHREAD_LIBS = -lpthread
+
 # user customisation variable for 'sparse' target
 SPARSE_FLAGS ?=
 # internal/platform customisation variable for 'sparse'