diff --git a/sys/conf/sysent.mk b/sys/conf/sysent.mk
index 3b11c1042c7..6fc64bcf8c8 100644
--- a/sys/conf/sysent.mk
+++ b/sys/conf/sysent.mk
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ SYSENT_CONF?=	syscalls.conf
 # and set GENERATED.
 SRCS+=	${SYSENT_FILE}
 SRCS+=	${SYSENT_CONF}
-MAKESYSCALLS=	${SYSDIR}/tools/makesyscalls.lua
+
+MAKESYSCALLS_INTERP?=	${LUA}
+MAKESYSCALLS_SCRIPT?=	${SYSDIR}/tools/makesyscalls.lua
+MAKESYSCALLS=	${MAKESYSCALLS_INTERP} ${MAKESYSCALLS_SCRIPT}
 
 all:
 	@echo "make sysent only"
@@ -31,5 +34,5 @@ all:
 .ORDER: ${GENERATED}
 sysent: ${GENERATED}
 
-${GENERATED}: ${MAKESYSCALLS} ${SRCS}
-	${LUA} ${MAKESYSCALLS} ${SYSENT_FILE} ${SYSENT_CONF}
+${GENERATED}: ${MAKESYSCALLS_SCRIPT} ${SRCS}
+	${MAKESYSCALLS} ${SYSENT_FILE} ${SYSENT_CONF}