diff --git a/libnm-core/meson.build b/libnm-core/meson.build
index ffe9e4bd9e..0060bed140 100644
--- a/libnm-core/meson.build
+++ b/libnm-core/meson.build
@@ -92,6 +92,13 @@ libnm_libnm_core_intern = static_library(
   c_args: common_c_flags,
 )
 
+libnm_libnm_core_intern_dep = declare_dependency(
+  sources: [libnm_core_enum_sources[1], nm_version_macro_header],
+  include_directories: [libnm_core_inc, shared_inc],
+  dependencies: libnm_utils_base_dep,
+  link_with: libnm_libnm_core_intern,
+)
+
 deps = [
   crypto_dep,
   libnm_utils_base_dep,
diff --git a/libnm/meson.build b/libnm/meson.build
index acf2284bee..8b68a63679 100644
--- a/libnm/meson.build
+++ b/libnm/meson.build
@@ -134,23 +134,18 @@ libnm_sources = files(
 
 deps = [
   libnmdbus_dep,
+  libnm_libnm_core_intern_dep,
   libnm_nm_default_dep,
   libnm_udev_aux_dep,
   libudev_dep,
 ]
 
-links = [
-  libnm_libnm_core_intern,
-  libnm_systemd_logging_stub,
-]
-
 liblibnm = static_library(
   'libnm',
   sources: libnm_sources + libnm_enum_sources,
-  include_directories: libnm_core_inc,
   dependencies: deps,
   c_args: c_flags,
-  link_with: links,
+  link_with: libnm_systemd_logging_stub,
 )
 
 links = [