diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 48e5a7d3b..7af35e225 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ pugixml_dep = dependency('pugixml', static:static_deps)
 libcurl_dep = dependency('libcurl', static:static_deps)
 microhttpd_dep = dependency('libmicrohttpd', static:static_deps)
 zlib_dep = dependency('zlib', static:static_deps)
+xapian_dep = dependency('xapian-core', static:static_deps)
 
 if compiler.has_header('mustache.hpp')
   extra_include = []
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ if target_machine.system() == 'windows' and static_deps
   extra_cflags += '-DCURL_STATICLIB'
 endif
 
-all_deps = [thread_dep, libicu_dep, libzim_dep, pugixml_dep, libcurl_dep, microhttpd_dep, zlib_dep]
+all_deps = [thread_dep, libicu_dep, libzim_dep, pugixml_dep, libcurl_dep, microhttpd_dep, zlib_dep, xapian_dep]
 
 inc = include_directories('include', extra_include)
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ subdir('static')
 subdir('src')
 subdir('test')
 
-pkg_requires = ['libzim', 'icu-i18n', 'pugixml', 'libcurl', 'libmicrohttpd']
+pkg_requires = ['libzim', 'icu-i18n', 'pugixml', 'libcurl', 'libmicrohttpd', 'xapian-core']
 
 pkg_conf = configuration_data()
 pkg_conf.set('prefix', get_option('prefix'))