diff --git a/Config.in b/Config.in
index 677fff620..ea060bc39 100644
--- a/Config.in
+++ b/Config.in
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ config BR2_HOSTARCH
 	string
 	option env="HOSTARCH"
 
+config BR2_EXTERNAL
+	string
+	option env="BR2_EXTERNAL"
+
 # Hidden boolean selected by pre-built packages for x86, when they
 # need to run on x86-64 machines (example: pre-built external
 # toolchains, binary tools like SAM-BA, etc.).
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6adacd97a..f92fd9b2c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -99,6 +99,29 @@ export CDPATH:=
 BASE_DIR := $(shell mkdir -p $(O) && cd $(O) >/dev/null && pwd)
 $(if $(BASE_DIR),, $(error output directory "$(O)" does not exist))
 
+
+# Handling of BR2_EXTERNAL.
+#
+# The value of BR2_EXTERNAL is stored in .br-external in the output directory.
+# On subsequent invocations of make, it is read in. It can still be overridden
+# on the command line, therefore the file is re-created every time make is run.
+#
+# When BR2_EXTERNAL is not set, the .br-external file is removed and we point
+# to support/dummy-external. This makes sure we can unconditionally include the
+# Config.in and external.mk from the BR2_EXTERNAL directory. In this case,
+# override is necessary so the user can clear BR2_EXTERNAL from the command
+# line, but the dummy path is still used internally.
+
+BR2_EXTERNAL_FILE = $(BASE_DIR)/.br-external
+-include $(BR2_EXTERNAL_FILE)
+ifeq ($(BR2_EXTERNAL),)
+  override BR2_EXTERNAL = support/dummy-external
+  $(shell rm -f $(BR2_EXTERNAL_FILE))
+else
+  $(shell echo BR2_EXTERNAL ?= $(BR2_EXTERNAL) > $(BR2_EXTERNAL_FILE))
+endif
+
+
 BUILD_DIR:=$(BASE_DIR)/build
 STAMP_DIR:=$(BASE_DIR)/stamps
 BINARIES_DIR:=$(BASE_DIR)/images
@@ -631,7 +654,8 @@ COMMON_CONFIG_ENV = \
 	KCONFIG_AUTOCONFIG=$(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/auto.conf \
 	KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER=$(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/autoconf.h \
 	KCONFIG_TRISTATE=$(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/tristate.config \
-	BUILDROOT_CONFIG=$(BUILDROOT_CONFIG)
+	BUILDROOT_CONFIG=$(BUILDROOT_CONFIG) \
+	BR2_EXTERNAL=$(BR2_EXTERNAL)
 
 xconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/qconf outputmakefile
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
diff --git a/docs/manual/manual.mk b/docs/manual/manual.mk
index f0bbff8e2..49421df74 100644
--- a/docs/manual/manual.mk
+++ b/docs/manual/manual.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
+# Packages included in BR2_EXTERNAL are not part of buildroot, so they
+# should not be included in the manual.
 manual-update-lists: manual-check-dependencies-lists
 	$(Q)$(call MESSAGE,"Updating the manual lists...")
 	$(Q)BR2_DEFCONFIG="" TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) O=$(O)/docs/manual/.build \
+		BR2_EXTERNAL=$(TOPDIR)/support/dummy-external \
 		python -B $(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/gen-manual-lists.py
 
 # we can't use suitable-host-package here because that's not available in