diff --git a/gnu/packages/linux.scm b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
index 36206b7654..6fbbd1dfe5 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/linux.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
@@ -338,9 +338,12 @@ (define* (make-linux-libre version hash supported-systems
 
 (define %intel-compatible-systems '("x86_64-linux" "i686-linux"))
 
+(define %linux-libre-version "4.9.8")
+(define %linux-libre-hash "09cx8l0bbccz14ajbawqaq4ah9jpld44pkb61483xwdp9v2sihm3")
+
 (define-public linux-libre
-  (make-linux-libre "4.9.8"
-                    "09cx8l0bbccz14ajbawqaq4ah9jpld44pkb61483xwdp9v2sihm3"
+  (make-linux-libre %linux-libre-version
+                    %linux-libre-hash
                     %intel-compatible-systems
                     #:configuration-file kernel-config))
 
@@ -356,10 +359,6 @@ (define-public linux-libre-4.1
                     %intel-compatible-systems
                     #:configuration-file kernel-config))
 
-;; Avoid rebuilding kernel variants when there is a minor version bump.
-(define %linux-libre-version "4.9.8")
-(define %linux-libre-hash "09cx8l0bbccz14ajbawqaq4ah9jpld44pkb61483xwdp9v2sihm3")
-
 (define-public linux-libre-arm-generic
   (make-linux-libre %linux-libre-version
                     %linux-libre-hash