diff --git a/package/heirloom-mailx/Config.in b/package/heirloom-mailx/Config.in
index 87664b489e..c5b0bcbea7 100644
--- a/package/heirloom-mailx/Config.in
+++ b/package/heirloom-mailx/Config.in
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_HEIRLOOM_MAILX
 	# uses fork()
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU
 	depends on !BR2_STATIC_LIBS
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBOPENSSL_ENABLE_DES if BR2_PACKAGE_LIBOPENSSL
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBOPENSSL_ENABLE_RC2 if BR2_PACKAGE_LIBOPENSSL
 	help
 	  Heirloom mailx (previously known as nail) is a mail user
 	  agent for Unix systems.