diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 27cb852..eb3500c 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ endif
 
 m_dep = cc.find_library('m', required: false)
 
-intl_dep = cc.find_library('intl', required: get_option('nls'))
+intl_dep = cc.find_library('intl', required: get_option('nls'), required: false)
 
 gtk2_dep = dependency('gtk+-2.0',
                       version: '>= 2.10.0',