diff --git a/include/image.mk b/include/image.mk
index 8c3c983c06..90ab88dd13 100644
--- a/include/image.mk
+++ b/include/image.mk
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ endef
 
 DEFAULT_DEVICE_VARS := \
   DEVICE_NAME KERNEL KERNEL_INITRAMFS KERNEL_INITRAMFS_IMAGE \
-  DEVICE_DTS DEVICE_DTS_DIR BOARD_NAME \
+  DEVICE_DTS DEVICE_DTS_DIR BOARD_NAME CMDLINE \
   UBOOTENV_IN_UBI KERNEL_IN_UBI \
   BLOCKSIZE PAGESIZE SUBPAGESIZE VID_HDR_OFFSET \
   UBINIZE_OPTS