diff --git a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
index bc115117c9..0de8a74c43 100644
--- a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ HOSTTOOLS += " \
 HOSTTOOLS += "ps stty ip ssh scp ping vi"
 
 # Link to these if present
-HOSTTOOLS_NONFATAL += "ccache pip3 ld.bfd ld.gold gcc-ar gpg sftp"
+HOSTTOOLS_NONFATAL += "ccache pip3 ld.bfd ld.gold gcc-ar gpg sftp nc"
 
 CCACHE ??= ""
 # Disable ccache explicitly if CCACHE is null since gcc may be a symlink