diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gtkplus/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gtkplus/package.py
index 4245ee8a836cf2cf470694a70e9b60ceef68de3e..4d4e5e3482547a30bacc4449fb76882c7359a405 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gtkplus/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gtkplus/package.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ class Gtkplus(AutotoolsPackage):
     # Hardcode X11 support (former +X variant),
     # see #6940 for rationale:
     depends_on('pango+X')
+    depends_on('cairo+X+pdf')
     depends_on('gobject-introspection')
     depends_on('libepoxy', when='@3:')
     depends_on('libxi', when='@3:')