diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d46b3d4bee..f661c6f888 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ if not get_option('disable_gst_devtools')
 endif
 
 if not get_option('disable_gst_editing_services')
-  if dependency('libxml-2.0').found()
+  if dependency('libxml-2.0', required : false).found()
     subprojects += ['gst-editing-services']
   else
     message('WARNING: not building gst-editing-services module, missing libxml-2.0')