diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 90918424d67aa3ff6a3b1421df6d9c664168216b..fb783dda91c3ebf82087b7696295c993a1206853 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -565,16 +565,19 @@ endif
 ##########################
 # location of libiberty.h
 #
-if compiler.has_header('libiberty.h',
-                       args: cflags,
-                       include_directories: include_directories(incdirs))
-    # Fedora
-    cflags += '-D__HAVE_LIBIBERTYH__'
-elif compiler.has_header('libiberty/libiberty.h',
-                         args: cflags,
-                         include_directories: include_directories(incdirs))
-    # Debian and derivatives e.g. Ubuntu
-    cflags += '-D__HAVE_LIBIBERTY_LIBIBERTYH__'
+if compiler.find_library('iberty',
+                         required:false)
+    if compiler.has_header('libiberty.h',
+                           args: cflags,
+                           include_directories: include_directories(incdirs))
+        # Fedora
+        cflags += '-D__HAVE_LIBIBERTYH__'
+    elif compiler.has_header('libiberty/libiberty.h',
+                             args: cflags,
+                             include_directories: include_directories(incdirs))
+        # Debian and derivatives e.g. Ubuntu
+        cflags += '-D__HAVE_LIBIBERTY_LIBIBERTYH__'
+    endif
 endif
 
 ############################################################