diff --git a/arch/powerpc/Makefile b/arch/powerpc/Makefile
index 709a22a3e824e334be9847d568124ef27f385703..b41f4c600a65becd3d8a4eaf72669483ee309e8c 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/Makefile
+++ b/arch/powerpc/Makefile
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ KBUILD_CFLAGS		+= -mno-sched-epilog
 endif
 
 cpu-as-$(CONFIG_4xx)		+= -Wa,-m405
-cpu-as-$(CONFIG_ALTIVEC)	+= -Wa,-maltivec
+cpu-as-$(CONFIG_ALTIVEC)	+= $(call as-option,-Wa$(comma)-maltivec)
 cpu-as-$(CONFIG_E200)		+= -Wa,-me200
 
 KBUILD_AFLAGS += $(cpu-as-y)