diff --git a/conf/distro/include/tcmode-external.inc b/conf/distro/include/tcmode-external.inc
index d5ffa95..c3b8e86 100644
--- a/conf/distro/include/tcmode-external.inc
+++ b/conf/distro/include/tcmode-external.inc
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 EXTERNAL_TOOLCHAIN ??= "UNKNOWN"
 EXTERNAL_TARGET_SYS ??= "${TARGET_ARCH}-${TARGET_OS}"
 EXTERNAL_TOOLCHAIN_BIN ??= "${EXTERNAL_TOOLCHAIN}/bin"
+EXTERNAL_ENABLED = "1"
 
 # External toolchain features.
 #