diff --git a/package/libv4l/Config.in b/package/libv4l/Config.in
index 866f8c67e3..04f0c6a9b3 100644
--- a/package/libv4l/Config.in
+++ b/package/libv4l/Config.in
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBV4L
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # fork()
 	depends on BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_ARGP_STANDALONE if BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_UCLIBC
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV if !BR2_ENABLE_LOCALE
 	help
 	  libv4l is a collection of libraries which adds a thin abstraction
 	  layer on top of video4linux2 devices. libv4l consists of 3 different
diff --git a/package/libv4l/libv4l.mk b/package/libv4l/libv4l.mk
index 0512e4912b..732fad5008 100644
--- a/package/libv4l/libv4l.mk
+++ b/package/libv4l/libv4l.mk
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ LIBV4L_DEPENDENCIES += argp-standalone
 LIBV4L_CONF_ENV += LIBS="-largp"
 endif
 
+LIBV4L_DEPENDENCIES += $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV),libiconv)
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_JPEG),y)
 LIBV4L_DEPENDENCIES += jpeg
 LIBV4L_CONF_OPTS += --with-jpeg