diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0005cd140d..69cef68861 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -5103,12 +5103,10 @@ if test "$skip_meson" = no; then
   echo "[properties]" >> $cross
 
   # unroll any custom device configs
-  if test -n "$device_archs"; then
-      for a in $device_archs; do
-          eval "c=\$devices_${a}"
-          echo "${a}-softmmu = '$c'" >> $cross
-      done
-  fi
+  for a in $device_archs; do
+      eval "c=\$devices_${a}"
+      echo "${a}-softmmu = '$c'" >> $cross
+  done
 
   test -z "$cxx" && echo "link_language = 'c'" >> $cross
   echo "[built-in options]" >> $cross