diff --git a/package/collectd/Config.in b/package/collectd/Config.in
index 4fae6d5070..fe520f8ce9 100644
--- a/package/collectd/Config.in
+++ b/package/collectd/Config.in
@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_COLLECTD_NETWORK
 
 config BR2_PACKAGE_COLLECTD_RRDTOOL
 	bool "rrdtool"
+	depends on BR2_USE_WCHAR # rrdtool
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_FREETYPE
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBART
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBPNG
@@ -368,6 +369,9 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_COLLECTD_RRDTOOL
 	help
 	  Writes values to RRD-files.
 
+comment "rrdtool support requires a toolchain with WCHAR support"
+	depends on !BR2_USE_WCHAR
+
 config BR2_PACKAGE_COLLECTD_UNIXSOCK
 	bool "unixsock"
 	help