diff --git a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcukitmanager.cpp b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcukitmanager.cpp
index ae5c5f4b153..1aba15b1b71 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcukitmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcukitmanager.cpp
@@ -527,6 +527,8 @@ void createAutomaticKits(const SettingsHandler::Ptr &settingsHandler)
             }
 
             McuSdkRepository repo{targetsAndPackages(qtForMCUsPackage, settingsHandler)};
+            McuSdkRepository::updateQtDirMacro(qtForMCUsPackage->path());
+            repo.expandVariablesAndWildcards();
 
             bool needsUpgrade = false;
             for (const auto &target : std::as_const(repo.mcuTargets)) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.cpp b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.cpp
index 1c7a170f8a9..d2d57973b11 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ Macros *McuSdkRepository::globalMacros()
     return &macros;
 }
 
+void McuSdkRepository::updateQtDirMacro(const FilePath &qulDir)
+{
+    // register the Qt installation directory containing Qul dir
+    auto qtPath = (qulDir / "../..").cleanPath();
+    if (qtPath.exists()) {
+        globalMacros()->insert("QtDir", [qtPathString = qtPath.path()] { return qtPathString; });
+    }
+}
+
 void McuSdkRepository::expandVariablesAndWildcards()
 {
     for (const auto &target : std::as_const(mcuTargets)) {
@@ -198,13 +207,7 @@ bool McuSupportOptions::isLegacyVersion(const QVersionNumber &version)
 
 void McuSupportOptions::setQulDir(const FilePath &path)
 {
-    //register the Qt installation directory containing Qul dir
-    auto qtPath = (path / "../..").cleanPath();
-    if (qtPath.exists()) {
-        McuSdkRepository::globalMacros()->insert("QtDir", [qtPathString = qtPath.path()] {
-            return qtPathString;
-        });
-    }
+    McuSdkRepository::updateQtDirMacro(path);
     qtForMCUsSdkPackage->updateStatus();
     if (qtForMCUsSdkPackage->isValidStatus())
         sdkRepository = targetsAndPackages(qtForMCUsSdkPackage, settingsHandler);
diff --git a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.h b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.h
index f6e39e529ae..7c2709d2599 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.h
+++ b/src/plugins/mcusupport/mcusupportoptions.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public:
     Targets mcuTargets;
     Packages packages;
 
+    static void updateQtDirMacro(const Utils::FilePath &qulDir);
     void expandVariablesAndWildcards();
     MacroExpanderPtr getMacroExpander(const McuTarget &target);