diff --git a/package/kernel/mac80211/Makefile b/package/kernel/mac80211/Makefile
index b9c82c51cc4c0d..54a2bf4499273c 100644
--- a/package/kernel/mac80211/Makefile
+++ b/package/kernel/mac80211/Makefile
@@ -47,7 +47,13 @@ define KernelPackage/mac80211/Default
   MAINTAINER:=Felix Fietkau <nbd@nbd.name>
 endef
 
-config_package=$(if $(CONFIG_PACKAGE_kmod-$(1)),m)
+# config_pacakge:
+# 1 = OpenWrt KernelPackage name
+# 2 = Optional list of variants for which the module may be selected:
+#     If empty, the module is only selected with the first variant
+#     Use $(ALL_VARIANTS) to allow module selection in all variants
+config_package=$(if $(and $(CONFIG_PACKAGE_kmod-$(1)),$(call mac80211_variant_check,$(2))),m)
+mac80211_variant_check=$(if $(ALL_VARIANTS),$(filter $(BUILD_VARIANT),$(if $(1),$(1),$(firstword $(ALL_VARIANTS)))),y)
 
 config-y:= \
 	WLAN \
@@ -72,10 +78,10 @@ config-y:= \
 	WLAN_VENDOR_TI \
 	WLAN_VENDOR_ZYDAS \
 
-config-$(call config_package,cfg80211) += CFG80211
+config-$(call config_package,cfg80211,$(ALL_VARIANTS)) += CFG80211
 config-$(CONFIG_PACKAGE_CFG80211_TESTMODE) += NL80211_TESTMODE
 
-config-$(call config_package,mac80211) += MAC80211
+config-$(call config_package,mac80211,$(ALL_VARIANTS)) += MAC80211
 config-$(CONFIG_PACKAGE_MAC80211_MESH) += MAC80211_MESH
 
 include ath.mk
diff --git a/package/kernel/mac80211/ath.mk b/package/kernel/mac80211/ath.mk
index 881c89db253dc6..dd200a89d42c37 100644
--- a/package/kernel/mac80211/ath.mk
+++ b/package/kernel/mac80211/ath.mk
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ ifdef CONFIG_PACKAGE_MAC80211_TRACING
 	WIL6210_TRACING
 endif
 
-config-$(call config_package,ath) += ATH_CARDS ATH_COMMON
+config-$(call config_package,ath,regular smallbuffers) += ATH_CARDS ATH_COMMON
 config-$(CONFIG_PACKAGE_ATH_DEBUG) += ATH_DEBUG ATH10K_DEBUG ATH11K_DEBUG ATH9K_STATION_STATISTICS
 config-$(CONFIG_PACKAGE_ATH_DFS) += ATH9K_DFS_CERTIFIED ATH10K_DFS_CERTIFIED
 config-$(CONFIG_PACKAGE_ATH_SPECTRAL) += ATH9K_COMMON_SPECTRAL ATH10K_SPECTRAL ATH11K_SPECTRAL
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ config-$(CONFIG_ATH10K_THERMAL) += ATH10K_THERMAL
 config-$(CONFIG_ATH11K_THERMAL) += ATH11K_THERMAL
 
 config-$(call config_package,ath9k-htc) += ATH9K_HTC
-config-$(call config_package,ath10k) += ATH10K ATH10K_PCI
-config-$(call config_package,ath10k-smallbuffers) += ATH10K ATH10K_PCI ATH10K_SMALLBUFFERS
+config-$(call config_package,ath10k,regular) += ATH10K ATH10K_PCI
+config-$(call config_package,ath10k-smallbuffers,smallbuffers) += ATH10K ATH10K_PCI ATH10K_SMALLBUFFERS
 config-$(call config_package,ath11k) += ATH11K
 config-$(call config_package,ath11k-ahb) += ATH11K_AHB
 config-$(call config_package,ath11k-pci) += ATH11K_PCI