diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index b1759b5f3..a20e4b1b0 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -696,7 +696,7 @@ if feature_conf.get('CAIRO_HAS_PS_SURFACE', 0) == 1
 
   if libspectre_dep.found()
     conf.set('CAIRO_HAS_SPECTRE', 1)
-    deps += [libspectre_dep]
+    test_deps += [libspectre_dep]
   endif
 endif