diff --git a/package/tiff/tiff.mk b/package/tiff/tiff.mk
index f0b56150b1..d3ab50b79e 100644
--- a/package/tiff/tiff.mk
+++ b/package/tiff/tiff.mk
@@ -12,9 +12,12 @@ TIFF_CPE_ID_VENDOR = libtiff
 TIFF_CPE_ID_PRODUCT = libtiff
 TIFF_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
 
+# webp has a (optional) dependency on tiff, so we can't have webp
+# support in tiff, or that would create a circular dependency.
 TIFF_CONF_OPTS = \
 	--disable-contrib \
 	--disable-tests \
+	--disable-webp \
 	--without-x
 
 TIFF_DEPENDENCIES = host-pkgconf