diff --git a/package/hostapd/Makefile b/package/hostapd/Makefile
index 3b4978fc86..83622b41ba 100644
--- a/package/hostapd/Makefile
+++ b/package/hostapd/Makefile
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ TARGET_CPPFLAGS := \
 	-DCONFIG_LIBNL20 \
 	-D_GNU_SOURCE
 
+TARGET_CFLAGS += -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
+TARGET_LDFLAGS += -Wl,--gc-sections
+
 ifdef CONFIG_PACKAGE_kmod-mac80211
   TARGET_LDFLAGS += -lm -lnl-tiny
 endif