diff --git a/package/cppcms/cppcms.mk b/package/cppcms/cppcms.mk
index e72acb27e2..f3ea2628ea 100644
--- a/package/cppcms/cppcms.mk
+++ b/package/cppcms/cppcms.mk
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@ CPPCMS_CONF_OPTS = \
 CPPCMS_DEPENDENCIES = zlib pcre libgcrypt
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_CPPCMS_ICU),y)
-CPPCMS_CONF_OPTS += -DDISABLE_ICONV=ON
+CPPCMS_CONF_OPTS += -DDISABLE_ICU_LOCALE=OFF
 CPPCMS_DEPENDENCIES += icu
 CPPCMS_CXXFLAGS += "`$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin/icu-config --cxxflags`"
+else
+CPPCMS_CONF_OPTS += -DDISABLE_ICU_LOCALE=ON
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_UCLIBC),y)