diff --git a/package/rpm/rpm.mk b/package/rpm/rpm.mk
index 78f429f8b6..0eb6e7f3c7 100644
--- a/package/rpm/rpm.mk
+++ b/package/rpm/rpm.mk
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ RPM_CONF_OPTS = \
 	--disable-rpath \
 	--with-external-db \
 	--with-gnu-ld \
-	--without-cap \
 	--without-hackingdocs \
 	--without-lua
 
@@ -36,6 +35,13 @@ else
 RPM_CONF_OPTS += --without-acl
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBCAP),y)
+RPM_DEPENDENCIES += libcap
+RPM_CONF_OPTS += --with-cap
+else
+RPM_CONF_OPTS += --without-cap
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBNSS),y)
 RPM_DEPENDENCIES += libnss
 RPM_CONF_OPTS += --with-crypto=nss