diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0be2012923ac..ff19a0d7cbec 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -8388,10 +8388,14 @@ AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to enable HarfBuzz support])
 if test "$_os" != "WINNT" -a "$_os" != "Darwin"; then
     AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
     ENABLE_HARFBUZZ="TRUE"
-    if $PKG_CONFIG --atleast-version 0.9.18 harfbuzz; then
-        libo_CHECK_SYSTEM_MODULE([harfbuzz],[HARFBUZZ],[harfbuzz-icu >= 0.9.18])
+    if test "$with_system_harfbuzz" = "yes" -o "$with_system_libs" = "yes"; then
+	if $PKG_CONFIG --atleast-version 0.9.18 harfbuzz; then
+		libo_CHECK_SYSTEM_MODULE([harfbuzz],[HARFBUZZ],[harfbuzz-icu >= 0.9.18])
+	else
+    		libo_CHECK_SYSTEM_MODULE([harfbuzz],[HARFBUZZ],[harfbuzz >= 0.9.10])
+        fi
     else
-        libo_CHECK_SYSTEM_MODULE([harfbuzz],[HARFBUZZ],[harfbuzz >= 0.9.10])
+    	libo_CHECK_SYSTEM_MODULE([harfbuzz],[HARFBUZZ],[harfbuzz >= 0.9.10])
     fi
 else
     AC_MSG_RESULT([no])