diff --git a/arch/xtensa/Makefile b/arch/xtensa/Makefile
index 709b5748a2d7..e54189427b31 100644
--- a/arch/xtensa/Makefile
+++ b/arch/xtensa/Makefile
@@ -53,9 +53,11 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(shell echo __XTENSA_EB__ | $(CC) -E - | grep -v "\#"),1)
 CHECKFLAGS += -D__XTENSA_EB__
+KBUILD_CPPFLAGS += -DCONFIG_CPU_BIG_ENDIAN
 endif
 ifeq ($(shell echo __XTENSA_EL__ | $(CC) -E - | grep -v "\#"),1)
 CHECKFLAGS += -D__XTENSA_EL__
+KBUILD_CPPFLAGS += -DCONFIG_CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN
 endif
 
 vardirs := $(patsubst %,arch/xtensa/variants/%/,$(variant-y))