diff --git a/cogl/cogl-pango/meson.build b/cogl/cogl-pango/meson.build
index f45929c2e..db5bb2e42 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-pango/meson.build
+++ b/cogl/cogl-pango/meson.build
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ cogl_pango_public_headers = [
 ]
 
 cogl_pango_deps = [
+  cairo_dep,
   pango_dep,
   pangocairo_dep,
   libmutter_cogl_dep,
diff --git a/cogl/meson.build b/cogl/meson.build
index 4d98408ac..25120f954 100644
--- a/cogl/meson.build
+++ b/cogl/meson.build
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ cogl_pkg_deps = [
 ]
 
 cogl_pkg_private_deps = [
-  cairo_dep,
   gmodule_no_export_dep,
   libmutter_mtk_dep,
 ]