diff --git a/libs/luci-lib-json/Makefile b/libs/luci-lib-json/Makefile
index ededc1f650..9e3162a8e6 100644
--- a/libs/luci-lib-json/Makefile
+++ b/libs/luci-lib-json/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 include $(TOPDIR)/rules.mk
 
 LUCI_TITLE:=LuCI JSON library
-LUCI_DEPENDS:=
+LUCI_DEPENDS:=+luci-base
 
 PKG_LICENSE:=Apache-2.0