diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc b/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
index 16b3108..dba204e 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ NO32LIBS ??= "1"
 
 # Default to emitting logfiles if a build fails.
 BBINCLUDELOGS ??= "yes"
+
+# dummy distro related variables
+# they should be overridden by real distros
+# these fallbacks only serve the purpose of
+# oe-core standalone testability
+
+DISTRO ??= ""
 SDK_VERSION ??= "oe-core.0"
 DISTRO_VERSION ??= "oe-core.0"