diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index a0eaf084d6..0af3f2ba92 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -147,8 +147,6 @@ gst_base_dep = dependency('gstreamer-base-1.0', version : gst_req,
   fallback : ['gstreamer', 'gst_base_dep'])
 gst_net_dep = dependency('gstreamer-net-1.0', version : gst_req,
   fallback : ['gstreamer', 'gst_net_dep'])
-gst_check_dep = dependency('gstreamer-check-1.0', version : gst_req,
-  fallback : ['gstreamer', 'gst_check_dep'])
 gst_controller_dep = dependency('gstreamer-controller-1.0', version : gst_req,
   fallback : ['gstreamer', 'gst_controller_dep'])
 
diff --git a/tests/check/meson.build b/tests/check/meson.build
index 9eaf41ff92..2d4b7b831b 100644
--- a/tests/check/meson.build
+++ b/tests/check/meson.build
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+gst_check_dep = dependency('gstreamer-check-1.0', version : gst_req,
+  fallback : ['gstreamer', 'gst_check_dep'])
+
 have_registry = true # FIXME not get_option('disable_registry')
 
 # name, condition when to skip the test and extra dependencies