diff --git a/tools/mkimage/Makefile b/tools/mkimage/Makefile
index fd5dad0cd8..5473be7a91 100644
--- a/tools/mkimage/Makefile
+++ b/tools/mkimage/Makefile
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ define Host/Compile
 		HOSTLDFLAGS="$(HOST_LDFLAGS)" \
 		PKG_CONFIG_EXTRAARGS="--static" \
 		V=$(if $(findstring c,$(OPENWRT_VERBOSE)),1) \
+		NO_SDL=1 \
 		tools-only_config \
 		tools-only
 endef