diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index f3adb0598..11ffccef2 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ linux-2.6 (3.1.0~rc8-1~experimental.1) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   [ Ben Hutchings ]
   * [powerpc/powerpc64] Add missing #include to LPAR console selection fix
+  * Make kernel-wedge package checks non-fatal in experimental builds
 
  -- Ben Hutchings <ben@decadent.org.uk>  Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:02:56 +0100
 
diff --git a/debian/rules.real b/debian/rules.real
index 40edf3bf5..62e657b32 100644
--- a/debian/rules.real
+++ b/debian/rules.real
@@ -11,11 +11,16 @@ DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE := $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
 DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH:= $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_HOST_MULTIARCH)
 DEB_BUILD_ARCH    := $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_BUILD_ARCH)
 UPLOADER  := $(shell dpkg-parsechangelog | sed -ne 's,^Maintainer: .[^<]*<\([^>]*\)>,\1,p')
+DISTRIBUTION := $(shell dpkg-parsechangelog | sed -ne 's,^Distribution: ,,p')
 
 export PYTHONPATH = $(CURDIR)/debian/lib/python
 export DH_OPTIONS
 export DEB_HOST_ARCH DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE DEB_BUILD_ARCH
 
+ifneq (,$(filter experimental UNRELEASED,$(DISTRIBUTION)))
+  export KW_CHECK_NONFATAL = y
+endif
+
 include debian/rules.defs
 
 stamp = [ -d $(dir $@) ] || mkdir $(dir $@); touch $@