diff --git a/fs/axfs/axfs.mk b/fs/axfs/axfs.mk
index 6c795d7062..4b93df55c0 100644
--- a/fs/axfs/axfs.mk
+++ b/fs/axfs/axfs.mk
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ define ROOTFS_AXFS_CMD
 	$(HOST_DIR)/bin/mkfs.axfs -s -a $(TARGET_DIR) $@
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,axfs))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/cloop/cloop.mk b/fs/cloop/cloop.mk
index cbfc79b0d1..17749c5a3b 100644
--- a/fs/cloop/cloop.mk
+++ b/fs/cloop/cloop.mk
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ define ROOTFS_CLOOP_CMD
 		$(HOST_DIR)/bin/create_compressed_fs - 65536 > $@
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,cloop))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/common.mk b/fs/common.mk
index b06e9b5597..98232f0b9f 100644
--- a/fs/common.mk
+++ b/fs/common.mk
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES))
 
 # Since this function will be called from within an $(eval ...)
 # all variable references except the arguments must be $$-quoted.
-define ROOTFS_TARGET_INTERNAL
+define inner-rootfs
 
 # extra deps
 ROOTFS_$(2)_DEPENDENCIES += host-fakeroot host-makedevs \
@@ -128,8 +128,7 @@ endif
 
 endef
 
-define ROOTFS_TARGET
-	$(call ROOTFS_TARGET_INTERNAL,$(1),$(call UPPERCASE,$(1)))
-endef
+# $(pkgname) also works well to return the filesystem name
+rootfs = $(call inner-rootfs,$(pkgname),$(call UPPERCASE,$(pkgname)))
 
 include $(sort $(wildcard fs/*/*.mk))
diff --git a/fs/cpio/cpio.mk b/fs/cpio/cpio.mk
index c68e0bfb97..aa4d947fa5 100644
--- a/fs/cpio/cpio.mk
+++ b/fs/cpio/cpio.mk
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ endef
 ROOTFS_CPIO_POST_GEN_HOOKS += ROOTFS_CPIO_UBOOT_MKIMAGE
 endif
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,cpio))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/cramfs/cramfs.mk b/fs/cramfs/cramfs.mk
index 85b98b8ccd..f880871935 100644
--- a/fs/cramfs/cramfs.mk
+++ b/fs/cramfs/cramfs.mk
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ endef
 
 ROOTFS_CRAMFS_DEPENDENCIES = host-cramfs
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,cramfs))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/ext2/ext2.mk b/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
index 12b87a722c..6bb4b1c7f8 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
+++ b/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
@@ -43,4 +43,4 @@ endef
 ROOTFS_EXT2_POST_GEN_HOOKS += ROOTFS_EXT2_SYMLINK
 endif
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,ext2))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/iso9660/iso9660.mk b/fs/iso9660/iso9660.mk
index 38ed3cd970..207c6aa39f 100644
--- a/fs/iso9660/iso9660.mk
+++ b/fs/iso9660/iso9660.mk
@@ -144,4 +144,4 @@ endef
 ROOTFS_ISO9660_POST_GEN_HOOKS += ROOTFS_ISO9660_GEN_HYBRID
 endif
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,iso9660))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/jffs2/jffs2.mk b/fs/jffs2/jffs2.mk
index 9a36a75ff4..740ab3e03d 100644
--- a/fs/jffs2/jffs2.mk
+++ b/fs/jffs2/jffs2.mk
@@ -49,4 +49,4 @@ define ROOTFS_JFFS2_CMD
 endef
 endif
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,jffs2))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/romfs/romfs.mk b/fs/romfs/romfs.mk
index eded91df0a..163751b4e2 100644
--- a/fs/romfs/romfs.mk
+++ b/fs/romfs/romfs.mk
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ define ROOTFS_ROMFS_CMD
 	$(HOST_DIR)/bin/genromfs -d $(TARGET_DIR) -f $@
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,romfs))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/squashfs/squashfs.mk b/fs/squashfs/squashfs.mk
index 7de7f51af1..51abd5d7d0 100644
--- a/fs/squashfs/squashfs.mk
+++ b/fs/squashfs/squashfs.mk
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@ define ROOTFS_SQUASHFS_CMD
 	$(HOST_DIR)/bin/mksquashfs $(TARGET_DIR) $@ $(ROOTFS_SQUASHFS_ARGS)
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,squashfs))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/tar/tar.mk b/fs/tar/tar.mk
index 0e3eacbedf..e39c2fdbf1 100644
--- a/fs/tar/tar.mk
+++ b/fs/tar/tar.mk
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ define ROOTFS_TAR_CMD
 		tar $(TAR_OPTS) -cf $@ --null --no-recursion -T - --numeric-owner)
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,tar))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/ubi/ubi.mk b/fs/ubi/ubi.mk
index b71a555efb..c78feda5a3 100644
--- a/fs/ubi/ubi.mk
+++ b/fs/ubi/ubi.mk
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@ define ROOTFS_UBI_CMD
 	rm $(BUILD_DIR)/ubinize.cfg
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,ubi))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/ubifs/ubifs.mk b/fs/ubifs/ubifs.mk
index 4f45acdc4a..2cfc397aca 100644
--- a/fs/ubifs/ubifs.mk
+++ b/fs/ubifs/ubifs.mk
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@ define ROOTFS_UBIFS_CMD
 	$(HOST_DIR)/sbin/mkfs.ubifs -d $(TARGET_DIR) $(UBIFS_OPTS) -o $@
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,ubifs))
+$(eval $(rootfs))
diff --git a/fs/yaffs2/yaffs.mk b/fs/yaffs2/yaffs.mk
index 30570735fa..9cba27af70 100644
--- a/fs/yaffs2/yaffs.mk
+++ b/fs/yaffs2/yaffs.mk
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ define ROOTFS_YAFFS2_CMD
 	$(HOST_DIR)/bin/mkyaffs2 --all-root $(TARGET_DIR) $@
 endef
 
-$(eval $(call ROOTFS_TARGET,yaffs2))
+$(eval $(rootfs))