diff --git a/docs/manual/adding-packages-generic.txt b/docs/manual/adding-packages-generic.txt
index fbe37f9ca9..299017f9d2 100644
--- a/docs/manual/adding-packages-generic.txt
+++ b/docs/manual/adding-packages-generic.txt
@@ -347,6 +347,12 @@ not and can not work as people would expect it should:
   Git LFS to store large files out of band.  This is only available for
   packages downloaded with git (i.e. when +LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD=git+).
 
++ +LIBFOO_SVN_EXTERNAL+ can be set to +YES+ (the default) to specify
+  whether to retrieve the svn external references, or to +NO+ to avoid
+  retrieving those externals. Note that, contrary to other similar
+  options like +LIBFOO_GIT_SUBMODULES+ or +LIBFOO_GIT_LFS+, the default
+  here is to actually retrieve the externals; this is a legacy heritage.
+
 * +LIBFOO_STRIP_COMPONENTS+ is the number of leading components
   (directories) that tar must strip from file names on extraction.
   The tarball for most packages has one leading component named
diff --git a/package/pkg-download.mk b/package/pkg-download.mk
index 0718f21aad..5a311a95c6 100644
--- a/package/pkg-download.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-download.mk
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ define DOWNLOAD
 		-n '$($(2)_BASENAME_RAW)' \
 		-N '$($(2)_RAWNAME)' \
 		-o '$($(2)_DL_DIR)/$(notdir $(1))' \
+		$(if $(filter YES,$($(2)_SVN_EXTERNALS)),-r) \
 		$(if $($(2)_GIT_SUBMODULES),-r) \
 		$(if $($(2)_GIT_LFS),-l) \
 		$(foreach uri,$(call DOWNLOAD_URIS,$(1),$(2)),-u $(uri)) \
diff --git a/package/pkg-generic.mk b/package/pkg-generic.mk
index 5d1c1da128..86b9c1f9d3 100644
--- a/package/pkg-generic.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-generic.mk
@@ -643,6 +643,16 @@ ifndef $(2)_GIT_SUBMODULES
  endif
 endif
 
+ifndef $(2)_SVN_EXTERNALS
+ ifdef $(3)_SVN_EXTERNALS
+  $(2)_SVN_EXTERNALS = $$($(3)_SVN_EXTERNALS)
+ else
+  # Legacy: we used to always use externals by default
+  # Only set it when the package is actually hosted on svn
+  $(2)_SVN_EXTERNALS = $$(if $$(filter svn,$$($(2)_SITE_METHOD)),YES)
+ endif
+endif
+
 # Do not accept to download git submodule if not using the git method
 ifneq ($$($(2)_GIT_SUBMODULES),)
  ifneq ($$($(2)_SITE_METHOD),git)
diff --git a/support/download/svn b/support/download/svn
index 3e08a0ef36..1decb2310b 100755
--- a/support/download/svn
+++ b/support/download/svn
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ set -e
 #   -u URI      Checkout from repository at URI.
 #   -c REV      Use revision REV.
 #   -n NAME     Use basename NAME.
+#   -r          Recursive, i.e. use externals
 #
 # Environment:
 #   SVN      : the svn command to call
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ set -e
 . "${0%/*}/helpers"
 
 quiet=
+externals=--ignore-externals
 while getopts "${BR_BACKEND_DL_GETOPTS}" OPT; do
     case "${OPT}" in
     q)  quiet=-q;;
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ while getopts "${BR_BACKEND_DL_GETOPTS}" OPT; do
     u)  uri="${OPTARG}";;
     c)  rev="${OPTARG}";;
     n)  basename="${OPTARG}";;
+    r)  externals=;;
     :)  printf "option '%s' expects a mandatory argument\n" "${OPTARG}"; exit 1;;
     \?) printf "unknown option '%s'\n" "${OPTARG}" >&2; exit 1;;
     esac
@@ -52,7 +55,8 @@ _plain_svn() {
     eval ${SVN} "${@}"
 }
 
-_svn export --ignore-keywords ${quiet} "${@}" "'${uri}@${rev}'" "'${basename}'"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086 # externals and quiet may be empty
+_svn export --ignore-keywords ${quiet} ${externals} "${@}" "'${uri}@${rev}'" "'${basename}'"
 
 # For 'svn info', we only need the credentials, if any; other options
 # would be invalid, as they are intended for 'svn export'.