diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/linux-kernel.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/linux-kernel.bbclass
index 09323e57..ff8b1e61 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/linux-kernel.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/linux-kernel.bbclass
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ DISTRIBUTOR ?= "Isar"
 # pinned due to known or possible issues with compat 12
 DEBIAN_COMPAT:buster = "10"
 
-KBUILD_DEPENDS ?= "build-essential:native, \
-                   libelf-dev:native, \
+KBUILD_DEPENDS ?= "libelf-dev:native, \
                    libncurses-dev:native, \
                    libssl-dev:native, \
                    bc, \