diff --git a/meta/classes/ccache.bbclass b/meta/classes/ccache.bbclass
index 7daaa7e3aa..5ce23e50f3 100644
--- a/meta/classes/ccache.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/ccache.bbclass
@@ -12,17 +12,22 @@
 #
 # - Disable ccache for a recipe
 #   Add the following line to the recipe if it can't be built with ccache:
-#   CCACHE_DISABLE = '1'
+#   CCACHE_DISABLE = "1"
 #
 # - Share ccache files between different builds
 #   Set CCACHE_TOP_DIR to a shared dir
-#   CCACHE_TOP_DIR = /path/to/shared_ccache/
+#   CCACHE_TOP_DIR = "/path/to/shared_ccache/"
 #
-# - TO debug ccahe
+# - To debug ccache
 #   export CCACHE_DEBUG = "1"
 #   export CCACHE_LOGFILE = "${CCACHE_DIR}/logfile.log"
 #   And also set PARALLEL_MAKE = "-j 1" to get make the log in order
 #
+# By default this class will only use ccache for target builds, and build
+# our own ccache-native.  It is possible to use a host-provided ccache that
+# can then be used by native recipes too by setting:
+#   ASSUME_PROVIDED += "ccache-native"
+#   HOSTTOOLS += "ccache"
 
 # Set it to a shared location for different builds, so that cache files can
 # be shared between different builds.
@@ -46,7 +51,8 @@ python() {
     Enable ccache for the recipe
     """
     pn = d.getVar('PN')
-    if (pn in d.getVar('CCACHE_NATIVE_RECIPES_ALLOWED') or
+    if ("ccache" in d.getVar("HOSTTOOLS").split() or
+        pn in d.getVar('CCACHE_NATIVE_RECIPES_ALLOWED') or
         not (bb.data.inherits_class("native", d) or
         bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('CCACHE_DISABLE')))):
         d.appendVar('DEPENDS', ' ccache-native')