diff --git a/meta-yocto/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf b/meta-yocto/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
index 411347a650..6fa4c903ae 100644
--- a/meta-yocto/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
+++ b/meta-yocto/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ ENABLE_WIDEC="false"
 # eglibc->bash->gettext->libc-posix-clang-wchar dependency.
 USE_NLS="no"
 
+# -dev packages require pkgconfig, but it pulls in glib->dbus->shadow
+# which breaks with tiny's minimal libc.
+# -dev packages are not currently supported on poky-tiny.
+ASSUME_PROVIDED += "pkgconfig$"
+
 # Reconfigure eglibc for a smaller installation
 # Comment out any of the lines below to disable them in the build
 DISTRO_FEATURES_LIBC_TINY = "libc-libm libc-crypt"