diff --git a/docs/format-changelog.rst b/docs/format-changelog.rst
index 934bc85..d1f3b90 100644
--- a/docs/format-changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/format-changelog.rst
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ Changed behavior
 
 - String item ``includes`` are now using repo-relative paths. File-relative is
   still supported by issues a deprecation warning.
+- bblayers.conf is generated with ``BBPATH`` and ``BBFILES`` preset to common
+  defaults. Those can still be overwritten via ``bblayers_conf_headers``.
 
 Added
 ~~~~~
diff --git a/kas/libcmds.py b/kas/libcmds.py
index 0912204..35668fc 100644
--- a/kas/libcmds.py
+++ b/kas/libcmds.py
@@ -256,6 +256,8 @@ class WriteBBConfig(Command):
                     sorted(layer for repo in ctx.config.get_repos()
                            for layer in repo.layers)))
                 fds.write('"\n')
+                fds.write('BBPATH ?= "${TOPDIR}"\n')
+                fds.write('BBFILES ??= ""\n')
 
         def _write_local_conf(ctx):
             filename = ctx.build_dir + '/conf/local.conf'