diff --git a/package/lftp/lftp.mk b/package/lftp/lftp.mk
index 93a0bf5c32..b8a2b24302 100644
--- a/package/lftp/lftp.mk
+++ b/package/lftp/lftp.mk
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_EXPAT)$(BR2_PACKAGE_LFTP_PROTO_HTTP),yy)
 LFTP_DEPENDENCIES += expat
+LFTP_CONF_OPTS += --with-expat=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr
+else
+LFTP_CONF_OPTS += --without-expat
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GNUTLS),y)