diff --git a/package/network/utils/iproute2/Makefile b/package/network/utils/iproute2/Makefile
index 039360511e..2cb8adc824 100644
--- a/package/network/utils/iproute2/Makefile
+++ b/package/network/utils/iproute2/Makefile
@@ -236,9 +236,11 @@ endef
 
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,ip-tiny))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,ip-full))
+# build tc-mod-iptables before its dependents, to avoid
+# spurious rebuilds when building multiple variants.
+$(eval $(call BuildPackage,tc-mod-iptables))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,tc-tiny))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,tc-full))
-$(eval $(call BuildPackage,tc-mod-iptables))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,genl))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,ip-bridge))
 $(eval $(call BuildPackage,ss))