diff --git a/conf/commonshrc b/conf/commonshrc
index 4a44170..23720a2 100644
--- a/conf/commonshrc
+++ b/conf/commonshrc
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ add_myprefix_to() {
   add_to "$1" "$MYPREFIX/$2"
 }
 
-MYPREFIX=~/build/myprefix
+export MYPREFIX=~/build/myprefix
 
 add_myprefix_to PATH bin
 add_myprefix_to PATH sbin