diff --git a/share/mk/bsd.own.mk b/share/mk/bsd.own.mk
index a0ced5357cb..2f20da8620b 100644
--- a/share/mk/bsd.own.mk
+++ b/share/mk/bsd.own.mk
@@ -246,7 +246,10 @@ XZ_CMD?=	xz
 # overriden by Makefiles, but the user may choose to set this in src.conf(5).
 TESTSBASE?= /usr/tests
 
-# Compat for the moment
+# Compat for the moment -- old bsd.own.mk only included this when _WITHOUT_SRCCONF
+# wasn't defined. bsd.ports.mk and friends depend on this behavior. Remove in 12.
+.if !defined(_WITHOUT_SRCCONF)
 .include <bsd.compiler.mk>
+.endif # !_WITHOUT_SRCCONF
 
 .endif	# !target(__<bsd.own.mk>__)