diff --git a/package/php/php.mk b/package/php/php.mk
index ba428a664b..2a452d1401 100644
--- a/package/php/php.mk
+++ b/package/php/php.mk
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_PHP_EXT_OPENSSL),y)
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_PHP_EXT_LIBXML2),y)
+	PHP_CONF_ENV += php_cv_libxml_build_works=yes
 	PHP_CONF_OPT += --enable-libxml --with-libxml-dir=${STAGING_DIR}/usr
 	PHP_DEPENDENCIES += libxml2
 endif