diff --git a/srcpkgs/iptables/template b/srcpkgs/iptables/template
index 666b45bc86c..d166faec66d 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/iptables/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/iptables/template
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ checksum=4bb72a0a0b18b5a9e79e87631ddc4084528e5df236bc7624472dcaa8480f1c60
 disable_parallel_build=yes
 
 if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
-	hostmakedepends="automake libtool gettext-devel pkg-config"
+	hostmakedepends+=" automake libtool gettext-devel"
 	pre_configure() {
 		autoreconf -fi
 	}