diff --git a/release/Makefile b/release/Makefile
index e2aab6cde3f4..46ba2bf57324 100644
--- a/release/Makefile
+++ b/release/Makefile
@@ -495,7 +495,6 @@ release rerelease:
 	NO_CPU_CFLAGS \
 	NO_CPU_COPTFLAGS \
 	NO_FLOPPIES \
-	NO_SENDMAIL \
 	RELEASETAG \
 	RELNOTES_LANG \
 	SEPARATE_LIVEFS \