diff --git a/meta/classes/package_ipk.bbclass b/meta/classes/package_ipk.bbclass
index 69a6d95362..68ffc62583 100644
--- a/meta/classes/package_ipk.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/package_ipk.bbclass
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ OPKGBUILDCMD ??= "opkg-build"
 
 OPKG_ARGS = "-f $INSTALL_CONF_IPK -o $INSTALL_ROOTFS_IPK --force_postinstall --prefer-arch-to-version"
 OPKG_ARGS += "${@['', '--no-install-recommends'][d.getVar("NO_RECOMMENDATIONS", True) == "1"]}"
+OPKG_ARGS += "${@['', '--add-exclude ' + ' --add-exclude '.join((d.getVar('PACKAGE_EXCLUDE', True) or "").split())][(d.getVar("PACKAGE_EXCLUDE", True) or "") != ""]}"
 
 OPKGLIBDIR = "${localstatedir}/lib"