diff --git a/package/base/binutils/binutils.conf b/package/base/binutils/binutils.conf
index 293a55409..ec1f646ac 100644
--- a/package/base/binutils/binutils.conf
+++ b/package/base/binutils/binutils.conf
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 
 pkg_binutils_cross=""
 
+#this fixes a problem with flex
+var_append confopt " " "--disable-werror" 
+
 case "$xpkg" in
 	$pkg-cross-*)
 		pkg_binutils_cross="${xpkg#**-cross-}"