diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 89cee8625651..82ea7dd9fc98 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -738,7 +738,9 @@ INITRD_COMPRESS-$(CONFIG_RD_LZMA)  := lzma
 INITRD_COMPRESS-$(CONFIG_RD_XZ)    := xz
 INITRD_COMPRESS-$(CONFIG_RD_LZO)   := lzo
 INITRD_COMPRESS-$(CONFIG_RD_LZ4)   := lz4
-export INITRD_COMPRESS := $(INITRD_COMPRESS-y)
+# do not export INITRD_COMPRESS, since we didn't actually
+# choose a sane default compression above.
+# export INITRD_COMPRESS := $(INITRD_COMPRESS-y)
 
 ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_ALL
 MODSECKEY = ./signing_key.priv