diff --git a/scripts/unpack b/scripts/unpack
index 9ebae7712c..392c5ba733 100755
--- a/scripts/unpack
+++ b/scripts/unpack
@@ -20,9 +20,16 @@ pkg_lock "${PKG_NAME}" "unpack" "${PARENT_PKG}"
 ${SCRIPTS}/get "${PKG_NAME}"
 
 if [ -n "${PKG_DEPENDS_UNPACK}" ]; then
+  export _unpack_recursive_cnt=$((_unpack_recursive_cnt+1)) 
+  if [ ${_unpack_recursive_cnt} -gt 2 ]; then
+    die "unpack recursive limit hit: ${PKG_DEPENDS_UNPACK}, ${PARENT_PKG}"
+  fi
+
   for p in ${PKG_DEPENDS_UNPACK}; do
     ${SCRIPTS}/unpack "${p}" "${PARENT_PKG}"
   done
+  
+  unset _unpack_recursive_cnt
 fi
 
 STAMP="${PKG_BUILD}/.libreelec-unpack"