diff --git a/common/xbps-src/libexec/xbps-src-dobuild.sh b/common/xbps-src/libexec/xbps-src-dobuild.sh
index d7e7b6108e..cee3f6522f 100755
--- a/common/xbps-src/libexec/xbps-src-dobuild.sh
+++ b/common/xbps-src/libexec/xbps-src-dobuild.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ for f in $XBPS_COMMONDIR/environment/build/*.sh; do
     source_file "$f"
 done
 
-run_step build
+run_step build optional
 
 touch -f $XBPS_BUILD_DONE