diff --git a/package/socat/socat.mk b/package/socat/socat.mk
index c1bf4d260f..bfccd02031 100644
--- a/package/socat/socat.mk
+++ b/package/socat/socat.mk
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ SOCAT_DEPENDENCIES = host-autoconf
 # incompatibile license (GPL-3.0+)
 SOCAT_CONF_OPTS = --disable-readline
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL),y)
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL):$(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y:)
 SOCAT_DEPENDENCIES += openssl
 else
 SOCAT_CONF_OPTS += --disable-openssl