diff --git a/package/pv/Config.in b/package/pv/Config.in
index 671f78e8c..d7322963c 100644
--- a/package/pv/Config.in
+++ b/package/pv/Config.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 config BR2_PACKAGE_PV
 	bool "pv"
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_GETTEXT if BR2_NEEDS_GETTEXT_IF_LOCALE
 	help
 	  Pipe Viewer - is a terminal-based tool for
 	  monitoring the progress of data through a
diff --git a/package/pv/pv.mk b/package/pv/pv.mk
index 5f1a54bda..ab5190a43 100644
--- a/package/pv/pv.mk
+++ b/package/pv/pv.mk
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ PV_SOURCE = pv-$(PV_VERSION).tar.bz2
 PV_SITE = http://www.ivarch.com/programs/sources
 PV_LICENSE = Artistic-2.0
 PV_LICENSE_FILES = doc/COPYING
+PV_DEPENDENCIES = $(if $(BR2_NEEDS_GETTEXT_IF_LOCALE),gettext)
 
 # While 'pv' uses autoconf, it does not use automake for its
 # makefiles. It uses $(LD) $(LDFLAGS) to achieve partial linking, but