diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/cargo.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/cargo.bbclass
index b583f84bdf..fe5ce9b023 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/cargo.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/cargo.bbclass
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ BUILD_MODE = "${@['--release', ''][d.getVar('DEBUG_BUILD') == '1']}"
 # and will require an up to date Cargo.lock file.
 # This force the package being built to already ship a Cargo.lock, in the end
 # this is what we want, at least, for reproducibility of the build.
-CARGO_BUILD_FLAGS = "-v --frozen --target ${RUST_HOST_SYS} ${BUILD_MODE} --manifest-path=${CARGO_MANIFEST_PATH}"
+# Sometimes --freeze fails because Cargo.lock needs to be modified
+# without version changes. --offline can be used instead.
+CARGO_USE_OFFLINE_FLAG ??= "0"
+CARGO_BUILD_FLAGS = "-v ${@ '--frozen' if d.getVar('CARGO_USE_OFFLINE_FLAG') == '0' else '--offline'} --target ${RUST_HOST_SYS} ${BUILD_MODE} --manifest-path=${CARGO_MANIFEST_PATH}"
 
 # This is based on the content of CARGO_BUILD_FLAGS and generally will need to
 # change if CARGO_BUILD_FLAGS changes.