diff --git a/meta/conf/machine/beagleboard.conf b/meta/conf/machine/beagleboard.conf
index 04947c09dc..41351e7bf4 100644
--- a/meta/conf/machine/beagleboard.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/machine/beagleboard.conf
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ EXTRA_IMAGECMD_jffs2 = "-lnp "
 # Guesswork
 SERIAL_CONSOLE = "115200 ttyO2"
 
-PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/kernel = "linux-yocto"
+PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/kernel ?= "linux-yocto"
 PREFERRED_PROVIDER_linux-libc-headers ?= "linux-libc-headers-yocto"
 
 KERNEL_IMAGETYPE = "uImage"