diff --git a/Config.in b/Config.in
index a67c08d7fb..2fce9d7900 100644
--- a/Config.in
+++ b/Config.in
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ config BR2_BZCAT
 	  Default is "bzcat"
 	  Other possible values include "bunzip2 -c" or "bzip2 -d -c".
 
+config BR2_XZCAT
+	string "xzcat command"
+	default "xzcat"
+	help
+	  Command to be used to extract a xz'ed file to stdout.
+	  Default is "xzcat"
+
 config BR2_TAR_OPTIONS
 	string "Tar options"
 	default ""
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 20dd707103..2f3802c105 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ KERNEL_ARCH:=$(shell echo "$(ARCH)" | sed -e "s/-.*//" \
 
 ZCAT:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_ZCAT))
 BZCAT:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_BZCAT))
+XZCAT:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_XZCAT))
 TAR_OPTIONS=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_TAR_OPTIONS)) -xf
 
 GNU_TARGET_SUFFIX:=-$(call qstrip,$(BR2_GNU_TARGET_SUFFIX))
diff --git a/package/Makefile.package.in b/package/Makefile.package.in
index faa7ff1f38..74087cd462 100644
--- a/package/Makefile.package.in
+++ b/package/Makefile.package.in
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ INFLATE.gz   = $(ZCAT)
 INFLATE.tbz  = $(BZCAT)
 INFLATE.tbz2 = $(BZCAT)
 INFLATE.tgz  = $(ZCAT)
+INFLATE.xz   = $(XZCAT)
 INFLATE.tar  = cat
 
 # MESSAGE Macro -- display a message in bold type