diff --git a/package/diffutils/Config.in b/package/diffutils/Config.in
index 86da5d3a4f..4cc16e2127 100644
--- a/package/diffutils/Config.in
+++ b/package/diffutils/Config.in
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 config BR2_PACKAGE_DIFFUTILS
 	bool"diffutils"
 	depends on BR2_USE_WCHAR
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_GETTEXT if BR2_NEEDS_GETTEXT_IF_LOCALE
 	help
 	  GNU diff. Compare files per line.
 
diff --git a/package/diffutils/diffutils.mk b/package/diffutils/diffutils.mk
index 168d040248..25307630a0 100644
--- a/package/diffutils/diffutils.mk
+++ b/package/diffutils/diffutils.mk
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@
 
 DIFFUTILS_VERSION = 3.2
 DIFFUTILS_SITE = $(BR2_GNU_MIRROR)/diffutils
-DIFFUTILS_DEPENDENCIES = \
-	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_GETTEXT),gettext)
+DIFFUTILS_DEPENDENCIES = $(if $(BR2_NEEDS_GETTEXT_IF_LOCALE),gettext)
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX),y)
 DIFFUTILS_DEPENDENCIES += busybox