diff --git a/package/x11r7/xlib_libXpm/xlib_libXpm.mk b/package/x11r7/xlib_libXpm/xlib_libXpm.mk
index 7e11c4b5aa..391493a4ba 100644
--- a/package/x11r7/xlib_libXpm/xlib_libXpm.mk
+++ b/package/x11r7/xlib_libXpm/xlib_libXpm.mk
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ XLIB_LIBXPM_AUTORECONF = YES
 XLIB_LIBXPM_DEPENDENCIES = xlib_libX11 xlib_libXext xlib_libXt xorgproto \
 	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV),libiconv) \
 	$(TARGET_NLS_DEPENDENCIES)
+XLIB_LIBXPM_CONF_ENV = LIBS=$(TARGET_NLS_LIBS)
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_SYSTEM_ENABLE_NLS),)
-XLIB_LIBXPM_CONF_ENV = ac_cv_search_gettext=no
+XLIB_LIBXPM_CONF_ENV += ac_cv_search_gettext=no
 endif
 
 $(eval $(autotools-package))