diff --git a/conf/project/Makefile b/conf/project/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7745af6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conf/project/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+TOPDIR = ../..
+
+include $(TOPDIR)/make/proj.mk
+include $(JWBDIR)/make/conf.mk
diff --git a/make/defs.mk b/make/defs.mk
index 572716ff..1622367e 100644
--- a/make/defs.mk
+++ b/make/defs.mk
@@ -262,6 +262,8 @@ CVS_RSH                     ?= /usr/bin/ssh
 # ----- input dirs
 
 JW_PKG_DIR                   = $(JWBDIR)
+JW_PKG_CONF_BASE_DIR        ?= $(firstword $(wildcard $(JW_PKG_DIR)/conf /etc/opt/jw-pkg))
+JW_PKG_CONF_DIR             ?= $(firstword $(wildcard $(JW_PKG_CONF_BASE_DIR)/project $(JW_PKG_CONF_BASE_DIR)))
 PROJECT_STEM                 = $(PROJECT)-$(DIST_VERSION)
 
 # only works if checked out true to CVS, i.e. below proj