diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 0fca835ef..3cca93bc3 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ TMPREPOS = tmp.repos
 RPMBUILD_ARGS :=
 RPMBUILD_ARGS += --define="_topdir `pwd`/$(TMPREPOS)"
 RPMBUILD_ARGS += $(if $(RELEASE_SUFFIX), --define="release_suffix $$RELEASE_SUFFIX")
+RPMBUILD_ARGS += $(if $(filter 0,$(OFFLINE_BUILD)), --without ovirt_use_nodejs_modules)
 
 srpm:	dist-gzip
 	rm -fr "$(TMPREPOS)"
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a75a74423..29409f23f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -38,9 +38,6 @@ dnl TODO: Fail if rpmbuild is not present
 PACKAGE_RPM_SUFFIX=${PACKAGE_RPM_SUFFIX:-"%{?release_suffix}"}
 AC_ARG_VAR([PACKAGE_RPM_SUFFIX], [suffix to use on the rpm's release string])
 
-OFFLINE_BUILD=${OFFLINE_BUILD:-1}
-AC_ARG_VAR([OFFLINE_BUILD], [control if rpm builds will use an offline build via ovirt-engine-nodejs-modules (1) or should use an online build (0)])
-
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([
 	Makefile
 	ovirt-web-ui.spec
diff --git a/ovirt-web-ui.spec.in b/ovirt-web-ui.spec.in
index e019dbb7b..e7082865f 100644
--- a/ovirt-web-ui.spec.in
+++ b/ovirt-web-ui.spec.in
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 %global product oVirt
 %global source_basename @PACKAGE_TARNAME@
 %define debug_package %{nil}
-%define offline_build @OFFLINE_BUILD@
+
+# build condition `ovirt_use_nodejs_modules`
+#   - on by default, requires a build with `--without ovirt_use_nodejs_modules` to turn off
+#   - if on, the build uses `ovirt-engine-nodejs-modules`
+#   - if off, the build uses standard `yarn` accessing all node_modules packages directly
+%bcond_without ovirt_use_nodejs_modules
 
 Name:           ovirt-web-ui
 Version:        @PACKAGE_RPM_VERSION@
@@ -23,7 +28,7 @@ BuildRequires: rpm-build
 # requirements for building the rpm from src.rpm
 BuildRequires: autoconf
 BuildRequires: automake
-%if %{offline_build}
+%if %{with ovirt_use_nodejs_modules}
 # nodejs-modules embeds yarn and requires nodejs
 BuildRequires: ovirt-engine-nodejs-modules >= 2.3.2
 %else
@@ -40,7 +45,7 @@ This package provides the VM Portal for %{product}.
 %build
 %configure
 export SKIP_AUTOGEN=1
-%if %{offline_build}
+%if %{with ovirt_use_nodejs_modules}
 rpm -qa | grep ovirt-engine-nodejs
 source /usr/share/ovirt-engine-nodejs-modules/setup-env.sh
 %else