diff --git a/libweston/backend-drm/meson.build b/libweston/backend-drm/meson.build
index 484c2702..23db9127 100644
--- a/libweston/backend-drm/meson.build
+++ b/libweston/backend-drm/meson.build
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ if get_option('renderer-gl')
 		config_h.set('HAVE_GBM_FD_IMPORT', '1')
 	endif
 	deps_drm += dep_gbm
+	if not dep_egl.found()
+		error('drm-backend + gl-renderer requires egl which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-drm=false\' or \'-Drenderer-gl=false\'.')
+	endif
+	deps_drm += dep_egl
 	srcs_drm += 'drm-gbm.c'
 	config_h.set('BUILD_DRM_GBM', '1')
 endif