diff --git a/package/gdb/gdb.mk b/package/gdb/gdb.mk
index 4b9c5c6b70..cee7b37bcd 100644
--- a/package/gdb/gdb.mk
+++ b/package/gdb/gdb.mk
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ GDB_CONF_OPTS = \
 	--with-system-zlib \
 	--disable-werror \
 	--enable-static \
-	--without-mpfr
+	--without-mpfr \
+	--disable-source-highlight
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_DEBUGGER),y)
 GDB_CONF_OPTS += \