diff --git a/package/lftp/lftp.mk b/package/lftp/lftp.mk
index d2d58fd91d..5051f707a9 100644
--- a/package/lftp/lftp.mk
+++ b/package/lftp/lftp.mk
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ ifneq ($(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y)
 LFTP_CONF_OPTS += --with-modules
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_EXPAT)$(BR2_PACKAGE_LFTP_PROTO_HTTP),yy)
+LFTP_DEPENDENCIES += expat
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GNUTLS),y)
 LFTP_DEPENDENCIES += gnutls
 LFTP_CONF_OPTS += --with-gnutls