diff --git a/meta/classes/base.bbclass b/meta/classes/base.bbclass
index a57bd596d6..e15fa26ff6 100644
--- a/meta/classes/base.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/base.bbclass
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ inherit utility-tasks
 inherit metadata_scm
 inherit logging
 
-OE_IMPORTS += "os sys time oe.path oe.utils oe.data oe.packagegroup oe.sstatesig"
+OE_IMPORTS += "os sys time oe.path oe.utils oe.data oe.packagegroup oe.sstatesig oe.lsb"
 OE_IMPORTS[type] = "list"
 
 def oe_import(d):
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ def oe_import(d):
 python oe_import_eh () {
     if isinstance(e, bb.event.ConfigParsed):
         oe_import(e.data)
+        e.data.setVar("NATIVELSBSTRING", oe.lsb.distro_identifier())
 }
 
 addhandler oe_import_eh