diff --git a/mc.spec.in b/mc.spec.in
index 24ec82296..833e51a63 100644
--- a/mc.spec.in
+++ b/mc.spec.in
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Note that this is NOT a relocatable package
 %define ver     @VERSION@
-%define rel     1
+%define  RELEASE 1
+%define  rel     %{?CUSTOM_RELEASE} %{!?CUSTOM_RELEASE:%RELEASE}
 %define prefix  /usr
 
 Summary:   Midnight Commander visual shell