diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/os-release/os-release.bb b/meta/recipes-core/os-release/os-release.bb
index 8906906bc3..93af08c182 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/os-release/os-release.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/os-release/os-release.bb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ ID = "${DISTRO}"
 NAME = "${DISTRO_NAME}"
 VERSION = "${DISTRO_VERSION}${@' (%s)' % DISTRO_CODENAME if 'DISTRO_CODENAME' in d else ''}"
 VERSION_ID = "${DISTRO_VERSION}"
-VERSION_CODENAME = "${DISTRO_CODENAME}"
+VERSION_CODENAME = "${@d.getVar('DISTRO_CODENAME') or ''}"
 PRETTY_NAME = "${DISTRO_NAME} ${VERSION}"
 
 # The vendor field is hardcoded to "openembedded" deliberately. We'd