diff --git a/package/matchbox/matchbox-desktop/matchbox-desktop.mk b/package/matchbox/matchbox-desktop/matchbox-desktop.mk
index d180d1d..f8e854c 100644
--- a/package/matchbox/matchbox-desktop/matchbox-desktop.mk
+++ b/package/matchbox/matchbox-desktop/matchbox-desktop.mk
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ MATCHBOX_DESKTOP_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
 MATCHBOX_DESKTOP_DEPENDENCIES = matchbox-lib
 MATCHBOX_DESKTOP_CONF_OPT = --enable-expat
 
+# The bundled configure script does not properly replace LIBADD_DL, so
+# we force an autoreconf even if we don't have any patches touching
+# configure.ac/Makefile.am.
+MATCHBOX_DESKTOP_AUTORECONF = YES
+
 #############################################################
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_STARTUP_NOTIFICATION),y)