diff --git a/include/prereq-build.mk b/include/prereq-build.mk
index cb23f85647..4a87c9211a 100644
--- a/include/prereq-build.mk
+++ b/include/prereq-build.mk
@@ -168,8 +168,13 @@ $(eval $(call RequireCommand,svn, \
 	Please install the subversion client. \
 ))
 
-$(eval $(call RequireCommand,openssl, \
-	Please install openssl. \
+define Require/openssl
+	echo 'int main(int argc, char **argv) { SSL_library_init(); return 0; }' | \
+		gcc -include openssl/ssl.h -x c -o $(TMP_DIR)/a.out - -lcrypto -lssl
+endef
+
+$(eval $(call Require,openssl, \
+	Please install openssl (with development headers) \
 ))
 
 define Require/gnu-find