--- /usr/lib/portage/pym/portage.py	2005-11-04 18:05:43.652185158 -0500
+++ ./portage.py	2005-11-04 18:08:01.642587412 -0500
@@ -1400,6 +1400,8 @@
 						mystr = string.lower(var)+"_"+x
 						if mystr not in usesplit:
 							usesplit.append(mystr)
+					if var not in usesplit:
+						usesplit.append(var.lower())
 
 		# Pre-Pend ARCH variable to USE settings so '-*' in env doesn't kill arch.
 		if self.configdict["defaults"].has_key("ARCH"):