diff --git a/package/gnupg2/Config.in b/package/gnupg2/Config.in
index be97a20132..d24eaaee1f 100644
--- a/package/gnupg2/Config.in
+++ b/package/gnupg2/Config.in
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_GNUPG2
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBKSBA
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBPTHSEM
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBPTHSEM_COMPAT
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV if !BR2_ENABLE_LOCALE
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # libassuan
 	help
 	  GnuPG is the GNU project's complete and free implementation
diff --git a/package/gnupg2/gnupg2.mk b/package/gnupg2/gnupg2.mk
index 9502a8241b..5e108d9312 100644
--- a/package/gnupg2/gnupg2.mk
+++ b/package/gnupg2/gnupg2.mk
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ GNUPG2_SOURCE = gnupg-$(GNUPG2_VERSION).tar.bz2
 GNUPG2_SITE = ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/gnupg
 GNUPG2_LICENSE = GPLv3+
 GNUPG2_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
-GNUPG2_DEPENDENCIES = zlib libgpg-error libgcrypt libassuan libksba libpthsem
+GNUPG2_DEPENDENCIES = zlib libgpg-error libgcrypt libassuan libksba libpthsem \
+	$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBICONV),libiconv)
 GNUPG2_CONF_OPT = \
 	--disable-rpath --disable-regex --disable-doc \
 	--with-libgpg-error-prefix=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr \