diff --git a/libsemanage/src/Makefile b/libsemanage/src/Makefile
index b0711a70..d6c3f0fd 100644
--- a/libsemanage/src/Makefile
+++ b/libsemanage/src/Makefile
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ SWIG_CFLAGS += -Wno-error -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -Wno-unused-variable -Wno
 		-Wno-unused-parameter
 
 override CFLAGS += -I../include -I$(INCLUDEDIR) -D_GNU_SOURCE 
-RANLIB=ranlib
+RANLIB ?= ranlib
 
 SWIG = swig -Wall -python -o $(SWIGCOUT) -outdir ./