diff --git a/repos/base/mk/spec/release.mk b/repos/base/mk/spec/release.mk
index 0702251288..ca37a47982 100644
--- a/repos/base/mk/spec/release.mk
+++ b/repos/base/mk/spec/release.mk
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 CC_OPT += -DGENODE_RELEASE
-NIM_ARGS += -d:release
+NIM_OPT += -d:release