diff --git a/debian/rules.real b/debian/rules.real
index b6712811e..1a170ac67 100644
--- a/debian/rules.real
+++ b/debian/rules.real
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ include debian/rules.defs
 
 stamp = [ -d $(dir $@) ] || mkdir $(dir $@); touch $@
 
+ifneq (,$(findstring parallel=,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
+  comma := ,
+  DEBIAN_KERNEL_JOBS := $(subst parallel=,,$(filter parallel=%,$(subst $(comma), ,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS))))
+endif
 ifdef DEBIAN_KERNEL_JOBS
   JOBS_ARG = -j$(DEBIAN_KERNEL_JOBS)
 endif