diff --git a/ext/openh264/meson.build b/ext/openh264/meson.build
index e885eb47b5..4a85d87742 100644
--- a/ext/openh264/meson.build
+++ b/ext/openh264/meson.build
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ openh264_sources = [
   'gstopenh264plugin.c',
 ]
 
-openh264_dep = dependency('openh264', version : '>= 1.3.0', required : false)
+openh264_dep = dependency('openh264', version : '>= 1.3.0', required : false,
+  fallback: ['openh264', 'openh264_dep'])
 
 # FIXME: check if C++ compiler is available via new add_languages() semantics in meson git (~v30)
 if openh264_dep.found()