diff --git a/apps/Makefile b/apps/Makefile
index 394d6520..8706aa51 100644
--- a/apps/Makefile
+++ b/apps/Makefile
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 COREPATH ?= ../core
 .DEFAULT_GOAL := all
 
+include $(COREPATH)/../Makefile.defs
+
 ifneq ($(USE_MONITORING), yes)
-exclude_modules ?= mp3 examples py_sems xmlrpc2di gateway monitoring
+override exclude_modules = mp3 examples py_sems xmlrpc2di gateway monitoring
 else
-exclude_modules ?= mp3 examples py_sems xmlrpc2di gateway
+override exclude_modules = mp3 examples py_sems xmlrpc2di gateway
 endif
 
-include $(COREPATH)/../Makefile.defs
-
 modules ?= $(filter-out $(subst ;, ,$(exclude_modules))\
 		$(wildcard Makefile*) CVS CMakeLists.txt, \
 		$(wildcard *) examples/tutorial/cc_acc )