diff --git a/package/socat/socat.mk b/package/socat/socat.mk
index 0414c8adc8..28ea72e5a7 100644
--- a/package/socat/socat.mk
+++ b/package/socat/socat.mk
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ SOCAT_DEPENDENCIES = host-autoconf
 # incompatibile license (GPL-3.0+)
 SOCAT_CONF_OPTS = --disable-readline
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL),y)
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL):$(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y:)
 SOCAT_DEPENDENCIES += openssl
 else
 SOCAT_CONF_OPTS += --disable-openssl