diff --git a/package/sdl2_ttf/sdl2_ttf.mk b/package/sdl2_ttf/sdl2_ttf.mk
index 3b2b35e157..e9397d8505 100644
--- a/package/sdl2_ttf/sdl2_ttf.mk
+++ b/package/sdl2_ttf/sdl2_ttf.mk
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ SDL2_TTF_LICENSE = Zlib
 SDL2_TTF_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING.txt
 SDL2_TTF_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
 SDL2_TTF_DEPENDENCIES = sdl2 freetype host-pkgconf
+SDL2_TTF_CONF_OPTS = --disable-freetype-builtin
 
 # x-includes and x-libraries must be set for cross-compiling
 # By default x_includes and x_libraries contains unsafe paths.