diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index efe2871c9d..c6241c7a12 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ endif
 # features. It is optional if you want to neither execute tests nor use any of
 # these optional features.
 perl_required = get_option('perl')
-if get_option('tests') or get_option('gitweb').enabled() or 'netrc' in get_option('credential_helpers')
+if get_option('tests') or get_option('gitweb').enabled() or 'netrc' in get_option('credential_helpers') or get_option('docs') != []
   perl_required = true
 endif