diff --git a/libgimpbase/meson.build b/libgimpbase/meson.build
index b1c6d9c7eb..b5de0ac1d9 100644
--- a/libgimpbase/meson.build
+++ b/libgimpbase/meson.build
@@ -100,13 +100,14 @@ libgimpbase_introspectable = [
   libgimpbase_headers_introspectable,
 ]
 
-optional_libexecinfo = cc.find_library('execinfo', required: false)
-
 libgimpbase = library('gimpbase-' + gimp_api_version,
   libgimpbase_sources,
   include_directories: rootInclude,
   dependencies: [
-    gexiv2, gio, math, optional_libexecinfo
+    gexiv2, gio, math,
+    # optionally depend on libexecinfo on platforms where it is not
+    # internal to the libc.
+    opt_execinfo,
   ],
   c_args: [
     '-DG_LOG_DOMAIN="LibGimpBase"',
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index f933f1533e..2f84503893 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1214,7 +1214,6 @@ conf.set('HAVE_VPRINTF',
 foreach header : [
     { 'm': 'HAVE_ALLOCA_H',       'v': 'alloca.h' },
     { 'm': 'HAVE_DLFCN_H',        'v': 'dlfcn.h' },
-    { 'm': 'HAVE_EXECINFO_H',     'v': 'execinfo.h' },
     { 'm': 'HAVE_FCNTL_H',        'v': 'fcntl.h' },
     { 'm': 'HAVE_IEEEFP_H',       'v': 'ieeefp.h' },
     { 'm': 'HAVE_INTTYPES_H',     'v': 'inttypes.h' },
@@ -1241,6 +1240,12 @@ foreach header : [
   conf.set(header['m'], cc.has_header(header['v']) ? 1 : false)
 endforeach
 
+# In musl, backtrace() is in the libexecinfo library.
+# In glibc, it is internal (there we only need the header).
+# So we look for both cases, so that we are able to link to libexecinfo
+# if it exists. Cf. !455.
+opt_execinfo = cc.find_library('execinfo', has_headers: ['execinfo.h'], required: false)
+conf.set('HAVE_EXECINFO_H', opt_execinfo.found() or cc.has_header('execinfo.h') ? 1 : false)
 
 
 ################################################################################