diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.l b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.l
index b1a71f612c11d757b8944fdb836cc88abcc04e51..f8bd84714e0008b3abf54483b275bf6297b418fc 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.l
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.l
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ n	[A-Za-z0-9_-]
 		}
 		alloc_string(yytext, yyleng);
 		yylval.string = text;
-		return T_VARIABLE;
+		return T_WORD;
 	}
 	({n}|$)+	{
 		/* this token includes at least one '$' */
 		yylval.string = expand_token(yytext, yyleng);
 		if (strlen(yylval.string))
-			return T_VARIABLE;
+			return T_WORD;
 		free(yylval.string);
 	}
 	"="	{ BEGIN(ASSIGN_VAL); return T_EQUAL; }
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
index 3b7ebd363e7e8e5bad1d360f48c269b58f71d2e0..2127f1d65170917f53bedf7c70a5bd7f07d2c655 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ static struct menu *current_menu, *current_entry;
 %token T_STRING
 %token T_TRISTATE
 %token T_EOL
-%token <string> T_VARIABLE
 %token <string> T_ASSIGN_VAL
 
 %left T_OR
@@ -480,7 +479,7 @@ word_opt: /* empty */			{ $$ = NULL; }
 
 /* assignment statement */
 
-assignment_stmt:  T_VARIABLE assign_op assign_val T_EOL	{ variable_add($1, $3, $2); free($1); free($3); }
+assignment_stmt:  T_WORD assign_op assign_val T_EOL	{ variable_add($1, $3, $2); free($1); free($3); }
 
 assign_op:
 	  T_EQUAL	{ $$ = VAR_RECURSIVE; }