diff --git a/makefiles/tools/gdb.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/gdb.inc.mk
index cfe06254d5..5567495cbf 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/gdb.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/gdb.inc.mk
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-# new versions of gdb will support all architectures in one binary
-ifeq ($(shell gdb-multiarch -v > /dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?),0)
-export GDB        ?= gdb-multiarch
+export GDBPREFIX ?= $(PREFIX)
+
+# If the user installed a magic single target GDB rather than just using
+# gdb-multiarch, there typically is a reason for it - e.g. missing support for
+# that particular target in gdb-multiarch.
+ifeq ($(shell $(GDBPREFIX)gdb -v > /dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?),0)
+  export GDB ?= $(GDBPREFIX)gdb
 else
-export GDBPREFIX  ?= $(PREFIX)
-export GDB        ?= $(GDBPREFIX)gdb
+  # gdb-multiarch is normally
+  export GDB ?= gdb-multiarch
 endif