diff --git a/mk/spdk.common.mk b/mk/spdk.common.mk
index 59063858a..5cdeebe3e 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.common.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.common.mk
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@ ifneq ($(filter freebsd%,$(TARGET_TRIPLET_WORDS)),)
 OS = FreeBSD
 endif
 
+TARGET_MACHINE := $(firstword $(TARGET_TRIPLET_WORDS))
 
 COMMON_CFLAGS = -g $(C_OPT) -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-missing-field-initializers -Wmissing-declarations -fno-strict-aliasing -I$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/include
 
-UNAME_P := $(shell uname -p)
-ifneq ($(filter ppc%,$(UNAME_P)),)
+ifneq ($(filter powerpc%,$(TARGET_MACHINE)),)
 COMMON_CFLAGS += -mcpu=native
 else
 COMMON_CFLAGS += -march=native