diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 0f44814db49..c60c4ab873a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -985,24 +985,24 @@ if want_libidn == 'true' and want_libidn2 == 'true'
         error('libidn and libidn2 cannot be requested simultaneously')
 endif
 
-if want_libidn != 'false' and want_libidn2 != 'true' and not skip_deps
-        libidn = dependency('libidn',
-                            required : want_libidn == 'true')
-        have = libidn.found()
-else
-        have = false
-        libidn = []
-endif
-conf.set10('HAVE_LIBIDN', have)
-if not have and want_libidn2 != 'false' and not skip_deps
-        # libidn is used for both libidn and libidn2 objects
+if want_libidn2 != 'false' and want_libidn != 'true' and not skip_deps
         libidn = dependency('libidn2',
                             required : want_libidn2 == 'true')
         have = libidn.found()
 else
         have = false
+        libidn = []
 endif
 conf.set10('HAVE_LIBIDN2', have)
+if not have and want_libidn != 'false' and not skip_deps
+        # libidn is used for both libidn and libidn2 objects
+        libidn = dependency('libidn',
+                            required : want_libidn == 'true')
+        have = libidn.found()
+else
+        have = false
+endif
+conf.set10('HAVE_LIBIDN', have)
 
 want_libiptc = get_option('libiptc')
 if want_libiptc != 'false' and not skip_deps