diff --git a/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/CONFIG_SITE b/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/CONFIG_SITE
index 92156d971..9b443bfbe 100644
--- a/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/CONFIG_SITE
+++ b/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/CONFIG_SITE
@@ -29,3 +29,10 @@ CHECK_RELEASE = YES
 #   to the install location. This may be needed to boot from
 #   a Microsoft FTP server say, or on some NFS configurations.
 #IOCS_APPL_TOP = </IOC's/absolute/path/to/install/top>
+
+# These allow developers to override the CONFIG_SITE variable
+# settings without having to modify the configure/CONFIG_SITE
+# file itself.
+-include $(TOP)/../CONFIG_SITE.local
+-include $(TOP)/configure/CONFIG_SITE.local
+
diff --git a/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/RELEASE b/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/RELEASE
index ba28bcb26..dbd742b45 100644
--- a/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/RELEASE
+++ b/src/makeBaseApp/top/configure/RELEASE
@@ -35,3 +35,9 @@ EPICS_BASE = _EPICS_BASE_
 # Set RULES here if you want to use build rules from somewhere
 # other than EPICS_BASE:
 #RULES = $(MODULES)/build-rules
+
+# These allow developers to override the RELEASE variable settings
+# without having to modify the configure/RELEASE file itself.
+-include $(TOP)/../RELEASE.local
+-include $(TOP)/configure/RELEASE.local
+