diff --git a/package/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.mk b/package/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.mk
index dd15994aaf..71d2f30290 100644
--- a/package/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.mk
+++ b/package/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.mk
@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_DNSMASQ_LUA),y)
 	DNSMASQ_DEPENDENCIES += lua
-	DNSMASQ_MAKE_OPT += LDFLAGS+="-ldl"
+
+# liblua uses dlopen when dynamically linked
+ifneq ($(BR2_PREFER_STATIC_LIB),y)
+	DNSMASQ_MAKE_OPT += LIBS="-ldl"
+endif
 
 define DNSMASQ_ENABLE_LUA
 	$(SED) 's/lua5.1/lua/g' $(DNSMASQ_DIR)/Makefile