diff --git a/package/ipsec-tools/ipsec-tools.mk b/package/ipsec-tools/ipsec-tools.mk
index 98216eaea6..eb910bc498 100644
--- a/package/ipsec-tools/ipsec-tools.mk
+++ b/package/ipsec-tools/ipsec-tools.mk
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ endif
 ifneq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_IPSEC_TOOLS_READLINE),y)
 IPSEC_TOOLS_CONF_OPTS += --without-readline
 else
-IPSEC_DEPENDENCIES += readline
+IPSEC_TOOLS_DEPENDENCIES += readline
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_IPSEC_TOOLS_HYBRID),y)