diff --git a/package/sdl_sound/Config.in b/package/sdl_sound/Config.in
index 08ad7542cd..542c996b29 100644
--- a/package/sdl_sound/Config.in
+++ b/package/sdl_sound/Config.in
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 config BR2_PACKAGE_SDL_SOUND
 	bool "SDL_sound"
 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_SDL
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV if !BR2_ENABLE_LOCALE
 	help
 	  SDL_sound is a library that handles the decoding of several
 	  popular sound file formats, such as .WAV and .MP3.
diff --git a/package/sdl_sound/sdl_sound.mk b/package/sdl_sound/sdl_sound.mk
index 610e9681a6..5058551b01 100644
--- a/package/sdl_sound/sdl_sound.mk
+++ b/package/sdl_sound/sdl_sound.mk
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ SDL_SOUND_INSTALL_STAGING:=YES
 SDL_SOUND_INSTALL_TARGET:=YES
 SDL_SOUND_DEPENDENCIES = sdl
 
+ifneq ($(BR2_ENABLE_LOCALE),y)
+SDL_SOUND_DEPENDENCIES += libiconv
+endif
+
 SDL_SOUND_CONF_OPT:=--with-sdl-prefix=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr \
 		--with-sdl-exec-prefix=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr \
 		--disable-sdltest \