diff --git a/package/nftables/nftables.mk b/package/nftables/nftables.mk
index 11ef6844ce..210e950c11 100644
--- a/package/nftables/nftables.mk
+++ b/package/nftables/nftables.mk
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ else
 NFTABLES_CONF_OPTS += --without-json
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON)$(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON3),y)
+NFTABLES_CONF_OPTS += --enable-python
+NFTABLES_DEPENDENCIES += $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON),python,python3)
+else
+NFTABLES_CONF_OPTS += --disable-python
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_STATIC_LIBS)$(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBNFTNL_JSON),yy)
 NFTABLES_LIBS += -ljansson -lm
 endif