diff --git a/package/xerces/xerces.mk b/package/xerces/xerces.mk
index 906e4b663c..c75a8b0d35 100644
--- a/package/xerces/xerces.mk
+++ b/package/xerces/xerces.mk
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ endef
 
 XERCES_POST_PATCH_HOOKS += XERCES_DISABLE_SAMPLES
 
+# Before CMake 3.10, passing THREADS_PTHREAD_ARG=OFF was needed to
+# disable a try_run() call in the FindThreads tests, which caused a
+# build failure when cross-compiling.
+XERCES_CONF_OPTS += -DTHREADS_PTHREAD_ARG=OFF
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ICU),y)
 XERCES_DEPENDENCIES += icu
 endif