diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 9e3fefca6..9f2e10160 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ linux (4.11.4-1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Set ABI to 1
   * ipv6: xfrm: Handle errors reported by xfrm6_find_1stfragopt()
   * ipv6: Fix leak in ipv6_gso_segment().
+  * debian/rules.real: Include rules.defs before using architecture variables
+    (Closes: #862842)
 
  -- Ben Hutchings <ben@decadent.org.uk>  Tue, 06 Jun 2017 20:43:11 +0100
 
diff --git a/debian/rules.real b/debian/rules.real
index b1e3fac7b..2d531219c 100644
--- a/debian/rules.real
+++ b/debian/rules.real
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ ifeq ($(DISTRIBUTOR),)
 DISTRIBUTOR := Debian
 endif
 
+include debian/rules.defs
+
 ifdef OVERRIDE_HOST_TYPE
   CROSS_COMPILE := $(OVERRIDE_HOST_TYPE)-
 else ifneq ($(DEB_BUILD_ARCH),$(DEB_HOST_ARCH))
@@ -33,8 +35,6 @@ export DEB_BUILD_PATH = $(CURDIR)  # for dpkg-buildflags
 export LC_ALL = C.UTF-8
 undefine LANGUAGE
 
-include debian/rules.defs
-
 stamp = [ -d $(dir $@) ] || mkdir $(dir $@); touch $@
 
 setup_env := env -u ABINAME -u ARCH -u FEATURESET -u FLAVOUR -u VERSION -u LOCALVERSION