diff --git a/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass b/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
index ce4d7de..efe4a9f 100644
--- a/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/kernel.bbclass
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ KERNEL_IMAGE_SYMLINK_NAME ?= "${KERNEL_IMAGETYPE}-${MACHINE}"
 
 do_uboot_mkimage() {
 	if test "x${KERNEL_IMAGETYPE}" = "xuImage" ; then 
-		if test ! -e arch/${ARCH}/boot/uImage ; then
+		if test "x${KEEPUIMAGE}" = "x" ; then
 			ENTRYPOINT=${UBOOT_ENTRYPOINT}
 			if test -n "${UBOOT_ENTRYSYMBOL}"; then
 				ENTRYPOINT=`${HOST_PREFIX}nm ${S}/vmlinux | \
diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc b/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
index f770919..7448415 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/include/default-distrovars.inc
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ QA_LOGFILE = "${TMPDIR}/qa.log"
 
 OEINCLUDELOGS ?= "yes"
 KERNEL_CONSOLE ?= "ttyS0"
+KEEPUIMAGE ?? = "1"
 
 PCMCIA_MANAGER ?= "pcmciautils"