diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/gst-libs/gst/mpegts/gstmpegtsdescriptor.c b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/gst-libs/gst/mpegts/gstmpegtsdescriptor.c
index e6b18c1be6..9d2232a7bb 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/gst-libs/gst/mpegts/gstmpegtsdescriptor.c
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/gst-libs/gst/mpegts/gstmpegtsdescriptor.c
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ guint8 *
 dvb_text_from_utf8 (const gchar * text, gsize * out_size)
 {
   GError *error = NULL;
-  gchar *out_text;
+  gchar *out_text = NULL;
   guint8 *out_buffer;
   guint encoding;
   GIConv giconv = (GIConv) - 1;
@@ -304,7 +304,8 @@ dvb_text_from_utf8 (const gchar * text, gsize * out_size)
   /* We test character maps one-by-one. Start with the default */
   encoding = _ICONV_ISO6937;
   giconv = _get_iconv (_ICONV_UTF8, encoding);
-  out_text = g_convert_with_iconv (text, -1, giconv, NULL, out_size, &error);
+  if (giconv != (GIConv) - 1)
+    out_text = g_convert_with_iconv (text, -1, giconv, NULL, out_size, &error);
 
   if (out_text) {
     GST_DEBUG ("Using default ISO6937 encoding");
diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/tests/check/libs/mpegts.c b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/tests/check/libs/mpegts.c
index 55682f9cba..f8fc6f0905 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/tests/check/libs/mpegts.c
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/tests/check/libs/mpegts.c
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ static const guint8 stt_data_check[] = {
   0xc0, 0x00, 0xc4, 0x86, 0x56, 0xa5
 };
 
+static gboolean
+_has_iso6937_iconv (void)
+{
+  gboolean supported;
+  GIConv test = g_iconv_open ("iso6937", "utf-8");
+  supported = (test != (GIConv) - 1);
+  g_iconv_close (test);
+  return supported;
+}
+
 GST_START_TEST (test_scte_sit)
 {
   GstMpegtsSCTESIT *sit;
@@ -397,10 +407,12 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_mpegts_nit)
 
   fail_if (data == NULL);
 
-  for (i = 0; i < data_size; i++) {
-    if (data[i] != nit_data_check[i])
-      fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of NIT section", data[i],
-          nit_data_check[i], i);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ()) {
+    for (i = 0; i < data_size; i++) {
+      if (data[i] != nit_data_check[i])
+        fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of NIT section", data[i],
+            nit_data_check[i], i);
+    }
   }
 
   /* Check assertion on bad CRC. Reset parsed data, and make the CRC corrupt */
@@ -486,10 +498,12 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_mpegts_sdt)
 
   fail_if (data == NULL);
 
-  for (i = 0; i < data_size; i++) {
-    if (data[i] != sdt_data_check[i])
-      fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of SDT section", data[i],
-          sdt_data_check[i], i);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ()) {
+    for (i = 0; i < data_size; i++) {
+      if (data[i] != sdt_data_check[i])
+        fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of SDT section", data[i],
+            sdt_data_check[i], i);
+    }
   }
 
   /* Check assertion on bad CRC. Reset parsed data, and make the CRC corrupt */
@@ -594,13 +608,16 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_mpegts_dvb_descriptors)
   /* Check creation of descriptor */
   desc = gst_mpegts_descriptor_from_dvb_network_name ("Name");
   fail_if (desc == NULL);
-  fail_unless (desc->length == 4);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ())
+    fail_unless (desc->length == 4);
   fail_unless (desc->tag == 0x40);
 
-  for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
-    if (desc->data[i] != network_name_descriptor[i])
-      fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of network name descriptor",
-          desc->data[i], network_name_descriptor[i], i);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ()) {
+    for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
+      if (desc->data[i] != network_name_descriptor[i])
+        fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of network name descriptor",
+            desc->data[i], network_name_descriptor[i], i);
+    }
   }
 
   /* Check parsing of descriptor */
@@ -623,13 +640,16 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_mpegts_dvb_descriptors)
   desc = gst_mpegts_descriptor_from_dvb_service
       (GST_DVB_SERVICE_DIGITAL_TELEVISION, "Name", "Provider");
   fail_if (desc == NULL);
-  fail_unless (desc->length == 15);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ())
+    fail_unless (desc->length == 15);
   fail_unless (desc->tag == 0x48);
 
-  for (i = 0; i < 17; i++) {
-    if (desc->data[i] != service_descriptor[i])
-      fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of service descriptor",
-          desc->data[i], service_descriptor[i], i);
+  if (_has_iso6937_iconv ()) {
+    for (i = 0; i < 17; i++) {
+      if (desc->data[i] != service_descriptor[i])
+        fail ("0x%X != 0x%X in byte %d of service descriptor",
+            desc->data[i], service_descriptor[i], i);
+    }
   }
 
   /* Check parsing of descriptor with data */