diff --git a/package/cups/cups.mk b/package/cups/cups.mk
index 05737767f8..7ef2f36a22 100644
--- a/package/cups/cups.mk
+++ b/package/cups/cups.mk
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ CUPS_CONF_OPTS = \
 CUPS_CONFIG_SCRIPTS = cups-config
 CUPS_DEPENDENCIES = \
 	host-autoconf \
+	host-pkgconf \
 	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB),zlib)
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_SYSTEMD),y)