diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 97b32e9beb..6bbeffe571 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1273,10 +1273,16 @@ if not get_option('sdl').auto() or have_system
   sdl_image = not_found
 endif
 if sdl.found()
-  # work around 2.0.8 bug
-  sdl = declare_dependency(compile_args: '-Wno-undef',
-                           dependencies: sdl,
-                           version: sdl.version())
+  # Some versions of SDL have problems with -Wundef
+  if not cc.compiles('''
+                     #include <SDL.h>
+                     #include <SDL_syswm.h>
+                     int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { return 0; }
+                     ''', dependencies: sdl, args: '-Werror=undef')
+    sdl = declare_dependency(compile_args: '-Wno-undef',
+                             dependencies: sdl,
+                             version: sdl.version())
+  endif
   sdl_image = dependency('SDL2_image', required: get_option('sdl_image'),
                          method: 'pkg-config')
 else