diff --git a/po/meson.build b/po/meson.build
index 139f393e33..0a140b40b5 100644
--- a/po/meson.build
+++ b/po/meson.build
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
 
-i18n = import('i18n')
 want_translations = get_option('translations')
 
 if want_translations
+        i18n = import('i18n')
         i18n.gettext(meson.project_name(),
                      preset : 'glib',
                      data_dirs : '.')