diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 146aadeda..526261a72 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -225,12 +225,12 @@ endif()
 
 string(REGEX REPLACE "^fatal.*$" nogit GIT_VERSION_REAL "${GIT_VERSION}")
 
-
-find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
-
-pkg_check_modules(UNBOUND libunbound REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET)
-
-add_library(libunbound INTERFACE)
+if (NOT BUILD_STATIC_DEPS)
+  find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
+  pkg_check_modules(UNBOUND libunbound REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET)
+  add_library(libunbound INTERFACE)
+  target_link_libraries(libunbound INTERFACE PkgConfig::UNBOUND)
+endif()
 
 pkg_check_modules(SD libsystemd)
 # Default WITH_SYSTEMD to true if we found it
diff --git a/llarp/CMakeLists.txt b/llarp/CMakeLists.txt
index d7ba67482..becf08cf9 100644
--- a/llarp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/llarp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ endif()
 
 target_link_libraries(liblokinet PUBLIC cxxopts abyss lokinet-platform lokinet-util lokinet-cryptography)
 
-target_link_libraries(liblokinet PRIVATE PkgConfig::UNBOUND)
+target_link_libraries(liblokinet PRIVATE libunbound)
 
 if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
   install(TARGETS lokinet-util lokinet-platform liblokinet LIBRARY DESTINATION lib)