diff --git a/recipes-bsp/u-boot/files/rules.tmpl b/recipes-bsp/u-boot/files/rules.tmpl
index 6342c45d6..8a488847c 100755
--- a/recipes-bsp/u-boot/files/rules.tmpl
+++ b/recipes-bsp/u-boot/files/rules.tmpl
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SET_CROSS_BUILD_TOOLS=CROSS_BUILD_TOOLS=y
 endif
 
 override_dh_auto_build:
-	if [ -e keys ]; then \
+	if [ "${SB_SIGN}" = "1" ]; then \
 		tools/key2dtsi.py -c -s keys/custMpk.pem arch/arm/dts/custMpk.dtsi; \
 	fi
 	$(MAKE) $(PARALLEL_MAKE) ${U_BOOT_CONFIG}
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ override_dh_auto_build:
 	else \
 		./scripts/get_default_envs.sh >u-boot-initial-env; \
 	fi
-	if [ -e keys ]; then \
+	if [ "${SB_SIGN}" = "1" ]; then \
 		tools/iot2050-sign-fw.sh keys/custMpk.pem ${FIRMWARE_SECURE_VER}; \
 	fi
 	$(MAKE) $(PARALLEL_MAKE) $(SET_CROSS_BUILD_TOOLS) NO_SDL=1 tools-only envtools
diff --git a/recipes-bsp/u-boot/u-boot-iot2050.inc b/recipes-bsp/u-boot/u-boot-iot2050.inc
index 9c0d3085b..9521ca28b 100644
--- a/recipes-bsp/u-boot/u-boot-iot2050.inc
+++ b/recipes-bsp/u-boot/u-boot-iot2050.inc
@@ -41,8 +41,11 @@ DEBIAN_BUILD_DEPENDS:append:secureboot = ", python3-pycryptodome:native, \
 DEPENDS:append:otpcmd = " secure-boot-otp-provisioning"
 DEBIAN_BUILD_DEPENDS:append:otpcmd = ", secure-boot-otp-provisioning"
 
+SB_SIGN = "0"
+SB_SIGN:secureboot = "1"
+
 TEMPLATE_FILES += "rules.tmpl"
-TEMPLATE_VARS += "FIRMWARE_SECURE_VER"
+TEMPLATE_VARS += "FIRMWARE_SECURE_VER SB_SIGN"
 
 U_BOOT_CONFIG_PACKAGE = "1"