diff --git a/package/wolfssl/wolfssl.mk b/package/wolfssl/wolfssl.mk
index 68b638c3e2..aefcea33d0 100644
--- a/package/wolfssl/wolfssl.mk
+++ b/package/wolfssl/wolfssl.mk
@@ -30,7 +30,17 @@ else
 WOLFSSL_CONF_OPTS += --disable-sslv3
 endif
 
-# build fails when ARMv8 hardware acceleration is enabled
+# enable ARMv8 hardware acceleration
+ifeq ($(BR2_ARM_CPU_ARMV8A),y)
+WOLFSSL_CONF_OPTS += --enable-armasm
+# the flag -mstrict-align is needed to prevent build errors caused by
+# some inline assembly in parts of the AES structure using the "m"
+# constraint
+ifeq ($(BR2_aarch64),y)
+WOLFSSL_CONF_ENV += CPPFLAGS="$(TARGET_CPPFLAGS) -mstrict-align"
+endif
+else
 WOLFSSL_CONF_OPTS += --disable-armasm
+endif
 
 $(eval $(autotools-package))