diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index da426ed..4b441a5 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -245,17 +245,12 @@
 endif
 
 # DirectWrite (Windows)
-directwrite_dep = null_dep
 if host_machine.system() == 'windows' and not get_option('directwrite').disabled()
   if get_option('directwrite').enabled() and not cpp.has_header('dwrite_1.h')
     error('DirectWrite was enabled explicitly, but required header is missing.')
   endif
 
-  directwrite_dep = cpp.find_library('dwrite', required: get_option('directwrite'))
-
-  if directwrite_dep.found()
-    conf.set('HAVE_DIRECTWRITE', 1)
-  endif
+  conf.set('HAVE_DIRECTWRITE', 1)
 endif
 
 # CoreText (macOS)
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 7dca59e..db4208f 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -363,7 +363,6 @@
 if conf.get('HAVE_DIRECTWRITE', 0) == 1
   hb_sources += hb_directwrite_sources
   hb_headers += hb_directwrite_headers
-  harfbuzz_deps += directwrite_dep
   # hb-directwrite needs a C++ linker
   libharfbuzz_link_language = 'cpp'
 endif