diff --git a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
index 8e4f4bbb56..3ad905c917 100644
--- a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
@@ -471,6 +471,9 @@ HOSTTOOLS += " \
 # Tools needed to run testimage runtime image testing
 HOSTTOOLS += "ip ping ps scp ssh stty"
 
+# Link to sdl-config if using host SDL
+HOSTTOOLS += "${@bb.utils.contains('ASSUME_PROVIDES', 'libsdl-native', 'sdl-config', '', d)}"
+
 # Link to these if present
 HOSTTOOLS_NONFATAL += "aws ccache gcc-ar gpg ld.bfd ld.gold nc sftp socat sudo"