diff --git a/libweston/meson.build b/libweston/meson.build
index b9beb4db..81ae6ca5 100644
--- a/libweston/meson.build
+++ b/libweston/meson.build
@@ -364,7 +364,11 @@ if get_option('backend-x11')
 	endif
 
 	if get_option('renderer-gl')
-		deps_x11 += dependency('egl')
+		d = dependency('egl', required: false)
+		if not d.found()
+			error('x11-backend + gl-renderer requires egl which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\' or \'-Drenderer-gl=false\'.')
+		endif
+		deps_x11 += d
 	endif
 
 	plugin_x11 = shared_library(