diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 394aec7..f9dc25c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -183,11 +183,14 @@
 # CROSS_COMPILE can be set on the command line
 # make CROSS_COMPILE=ia64-linux-
 # Alternatively CROSS_COMPILE can be set in the environment.
+# A third alternative is to store a setting in .config so that plain
+# "make" in the configured kernel build directory always uses that.
 # Default value for CROSS_COMPILE is not to prefix executables
 # Note: Some architectures assign CROSS_COMPILE in their arch/*/Makefile
 export KBUILD_BUILDHOST := $(SUBARCH)
 ARCH		?= $(SUBARCH)
 CROSS_COMPILE	?=
+CROSS_COMPILE	?= $(CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE:"%"=%)
 
 # Architecture as present in compile.h
 UTS_MACHINE 	:= $(ARCH)