diff --git a/pbuilderrc b/pbuilderrc
index d0513c551c7261039851e4dd517774fd49536681..95f515f88c293734702367fd4d9bb9cb30eb8b8e 100644
--- a/pbuilderrc
+++ b/pbuilderrc
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ DEBDELTA=no
 
 #Command-line option passed on to dpkg-buildpackage.
 #DEBBUILDOPTS="-IXXX -iXXX"
-DEBBUILDOPTS=""
+DEBBUILDOPTS="${DEBBUILDOPTS}"
 
 #APT configuration files directory
 APTCONFDIR=""