diff --git a/package/gensio/gensio.mk b/package/gensio/gensio.mk
index 389de1e263..266ac137a2 100644
--- a/package/gensio/gensio.mk
+++ b/package/gensio/gensio.mk
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ GENSIO_SITE = http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/ser2net/ser2net
 GENSIO_LICENSE = LGPL-2.1+ (library), GPL-2.0+ (tools)
 GENSIO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING.LIB COPYING
 GENSIO_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
+GENSIO_DEPENDENCIES = $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_AVAHI_LIBAVAHI_CLIENT),avahi)
 GENSIO_CONF_OPTS = \
 	--without-openipmi \
 	--without-swig \