diff --git a/contrib/10.readline/nitro.mk b/contrib/10.readline/nitro.mk
index 91d210b6..280d6f52 100644
--- a/contrib/10.readline/nitro.mk
+++ b/contrib/10.readline/nitro.mk
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
-CONTRIB_SRCS += contrib/10.readline/src/readline.c
-CONTRIB_INITS += readline
+libedit_exists := $(shell pkg-config libedit --exists; echo $$?)
 
-LDFLAGS += `pkg-config libedit --libs`
+ifeq ($(libedit_exists),0)
+  CONTRIB_SRCS += contrib/10.readline/src/readline.c
+  CONTRIB_INITS += readline
+  LDFLAGS += `pkg-config libedit --libs`
+endif
 
 contrib/src/readline.o: contrib/src/readline.c
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $< `pkg-config libedit --cflags`