diff --git a/package/busybox/busybox.mk b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
index cb629892cd..95fea18b50 100644
--- a/package/busybox/busybox.mk
+++ b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ BUSYBOX_LDFLAGS = \
 
 # Packages that provide commands that may also be busybox applets:
 BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES = \
+	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_LESS),less) \
 	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_LSOF),lsof) \
 	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_MTD),mtd) \
 	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_NET_TOOLS),net-tools) \
diff --git a/package/less/less.mk b/package/less/less.mk
index bccc08b89f..ef3643c0aa 100644
--- a/package/less/less.mk
+++ b/package/less/less.mk
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ LESS_VERSION = 487
 LESS_SITE = $(BR2_GNU_MIRROR)/less
 LESS_LICENSE = GPL-3.0+
 LESS_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
-# Build after busybox, full-blown is better
-LESS_DEPENDENCIES = ncurses $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX),busybox)
+LESS_DEPENDENCIES = ncurses
 
 define LESS_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 	$(INSTALL) -m 0755 $(@D)/less $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin/less