diff --git a/Makefile.rules b/Makefile.rules
index 2ccb1f6..b94f27e 100644
--- a/Makefile.rules
+++ b/Makefile.rules
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ LDFLAGS   ?= -s
 endif
 
 ifdef DONTSTRIP
-STRIP     ?= :
+STRIP     = :
 else
-STRIP     ?= strip --strip-debug
+STRIP     = :
 endif
 
 CC        ?= gcc