diff --git a/rules.mk b/rules.mk
index 5a54c536d984d97a891c89d2928a8e5da4c2d639..6b081bba55dd29ca1618a217dee0efd29d99eeac 100644
--- a/rules.mk
+++ b/rules.mk
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ SUBDIR:=$(patsubst $(TOPDIR)/%,%,${CURDIR})
 
 OPTIMIZE_FOR_CPU=$(ARCH)
 
+ifeq ($(ARCH),powerpc)
+  FPIC:=-fPIC
+else
+  FPIC:=-fpic
+endif
+
 DL_DIR:=$(if $(call qstrip,$(CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_FOLDER)),$(call qstrip,$(CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_FOLDER)),$(TOPDIR)/dl)
 BIN_DIR:=$(TOPDIR)/bin
 INCLUDE_DIR:=$(TOPDIR)/include