diff --git a/libfwupd/fwupd-common.c b/libfwupd/fwupd-common.c
index 078b42b78..7fd29490c 100644
--- a/libfwupd/fwupd-common.c
+++ b/libfwupd/fwupd-common.c
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
 
 #include <locale.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
+#endif
 #include <json-glib/json-glib.h>
 
 #if !GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2,54,0)
@@ -222,12 +224,15 @@ fwupd_build_user_agent_os_release (void)
 static gchar *
 fwupd_build_user_agent_system (void)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	struct utsname name_tmp;
+#endif
 	g_autofree gchar *locale = NULL;
 	g_autofree gchar *os_release = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(GPtrArray) ids = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_free);
 
 	/* system, architecture and kernel, e.g. "Linux i686 4.14.5" */
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	memset (&name_tmp, 0, sizeof(struct utsname));
 	if (uname (&name_tmp) >= 0) {
 		g_ptr_array_add (ids, g_strdup_printf ("%s %s %s",
@@ -235,6 +240,7 @@ fwupd_build_user_agent_system (void)
 						       name_tmp.machine,
 						       name_tmp.release));
 	}
+#endif
 
 	/* current locale, e.g. "en-gb" */
 	locale = g_strdup (setlocale (LC_MESSAGES, NULL));
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 8c5981526..9b6ebd7ff 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -222,6 +222,10 @@ if build_standalone and get_option('plugin_altos')
   libelf = dependency('libelf')
 endif
 
+if cc.has_header('sys/utsname.h')
+  conf.set('HAVE_UTSNAME_H', '1')
+endif
+
 if build_standalone and get_option('plugin_uefi')
   cairo = dependency('cairo')
   fontconfig = cc.find_library('fontconfig')
diff --git a/src/fu-engine.c b/src/fu-engine.c
index 7e7c336c2..8da880ee4 100644
--- a/src/fu-engine.c
+++ b/src/fu-engine.c
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 #include <gudev/gudev.h>
 #include <fnmatch.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
+#endif
 
 #include "fwupd-common-private.h"
 #include "fwupd-enums-private.h"
@@ -1380,7 +1382,9 @@ fu_engine_get_report_metadata (FuEngine *self)
 {
 	GHashTable *hash;
 	gchar *btime;
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	struct utsname name_tmp;
+#endif
 	g_autoptr(GList) compile_keys = g_hash_table_get_keys (self->compile_versions);
 	g_autoptr(GList) runtime_keys = g_hash_table_get_keys (self->runtime_versions);
 
@@ -1402,12 +1406,14 @@ fu_engine_get_report_metadata (FuEngine *self)
 	}
 
 	/* kernel version is often important for debugging failures */
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	memset (&name_tmp, 0, sizeof (struct utsname));
 	if (uname (&name_tmp) >= 0) {
 		g_hash_table_insert (hash,
 				     g_strdup ("CpuArchitecture"),
 				     g_strdup (name_tmp.machine));
 	}
+#endif
 
 	/* add the kernel boot time so we can detect a reboot */
 	btime = fu_engine_get_boot_time ();
@@ -4947,7 +4953,9 @@ fu_engine_idle_status_notify_cb (FuIdle *idle, GParamSpec *pspec, FuEngine *self
 static void
 fu_engine_init (FuEngine *self)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	struct utsname uname_tmp;
+#endif
 	self->percentage = 0;
 	self->status = FWUPD_STATUS_IDLE;
 	self->config = fu_config_new ();
@@ -4983,9 +4991,11 @@ fu_engine_init (FuEngine *self)
 #endif
 
 	/* optional kernel version */
+#ifdef HAVE_UTSNAME_H
 	memset (&uname_tmp, 0, sizeof(uname_tmp));
 	if (uname (&uname_tmp) >= 0)
 		fu_engine_add_runtime_version (self, "org.kernel", uname_tmp.release);
+#endif
 
 	g_hash_table_insert (self->compile_versions,
 			     g_strdup ("com.redhat.fwupdate"),