diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index ac06ac61a..73783f75b 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -258,7 +258,8 @@ cairo_headers += [cairo_features_file]
 libcairo_dep = declare_dependency(link_with: libcairo,
   dependencies: deps,
   include_directories: incsrc,
-  compile_args: cairo_static_args,
+  compile_args: cairo_static_args + pthread_c_args,
+  link_args: pthread_link_args,
 )
 
 pkgmod.generate(libcairo,