Yocto - do_configure not found when override kernel.bbclass

Question

I had to upgrade the kernel version in my project to 5.10. After the upgrade I had a problem adding external modules to the kernel. It turned out that in the newer version of Yocto this problem is solved in the kernel.bbclass file. So I decided to replace this file. When I change the contents of this file in the poky/meta/classes directory, the image builds without problems including the external modules I care about. However, I wanted to make the same change in my layer instead of the poky directory. I copied the kernel.bbclass file to my layer, renamed it to kernel_changes.bbclass so it wouldn't conflict with the name in the poky directory, and in the kernel recipe I replaced the line inherit kernel with inherit kernel_changes. Now I can't build the image because I get an error all the time:

ERROR: linux-at91-5.10+gitAUTOINC+d0d603fcdf-r0 do_configure: Execution of '/<path>/build/tmp/work/<arch>/linux-at91/5.10+gitAUTOINC+d0d603fcdf-r0/temp/run.do_configure.4183281' failed with exit code 127:
/<path>/build/tmp/work/<arch>/linux-at91/5.10+gitAUTOINC+d0d603fcdf-r0/temp/run.do_configure.4183281: 136: do_configure: not found
WARNING: exit code 127 from a shell command.

I tried calling bitbake linux-at91 -c cleanall, but that doesn't help. What else can I do to be able to use the modified kernel.bbclass file from my layer, instead of modifying it in the poky directory?

EDIT: The second way I tested and it works is to name my modified file also kernel.bbclass and change the layer order in the build/conf/bblayers.conf file. This way also does not cause any errors when building the image. The external modules are added to the kernel. However, I would prefer not to modify the bblayers.conf file.