diff --git a/package/mono/Config.in b/package/mono/Config.in
index 4445f4b010..0c7129b91a 100644
--- a/package/mono/Config.in
+++ b/package/mono/Config.in
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_MONO
 	bool "mono"
 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_MONO_ARCH_SUPPORTS
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV if !BR2_ENABLE_LOCALE
 	help
 	  An open source, cross-platform, implementation of C#
 	  and the CLR that is binary compatible with Microsoft.NET.
diff --git a/package/mono/mono.mk b/package/mono/mono.mk
index 9cb8564109..8668aa0d05 100644
--- a/package/mono/mono.mk
+++ b/package/mono/mono.mk
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ endef
 
 MONO_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += MONO_INSTALL_LIBS
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV),y)
+MONO_DEPENDENCIES += libiconv
+endif
+
 MONO_DEPENDENCIES += host-mono
 
 ## Mono managed