diff --git a/package/mpg123/mpg123.mk b/package/mpg123/mpg123.mk
index efd510df0c..f6bb29717c 100644
--- a/package/mpg123/mpg123.mk
+++ b/package/mpg123/mpg123.mk
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ALSA_LIB),y)
 MPG123_AUDIO += alsa
 MPG123_CONF_OPTS += --with-default-audio=alsa
 MPG123_DEPENDENCIES += alsa-lib
+# configure script does NOT use pkg-config to figure out how to link
+# with alsa, breaking static linking as alsa uses pthreads
+MPG123_CONF_ENV += LIBS="`$(PKG_CONFIG_HOST_BINARY) --libs alsa`"
 endif
 
 MPG123_CONF_OPTS += --with-audio=$(subst $(space),$(comma),$(MPG123_AUDIO))