diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 00ec1422..e257468d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 .POSIX:
 .SUFFIXES:
 meli:
-	cargo build --features="$(MELI_FEATURES)" --release
+	cargo build $(FEATURES)--release
 
 PREFIX=/usr/local
 
+ifdef MELI_FEATURES
+  FEATURES ?= --features="$(MELI_FEATURES)" 
+else
+  FEATURES ?=
+endif
+
 .PHONY: clean
 clean: rm -ri ./target/