diff --git a/bootstrap.conf b/bootstrap.conf
index dd93c08aa..7def1f99a 100644
--- a/bootstrap.conf
+++ b/bootstrap.conf
@@ -376,6 +376,13 @@ bootstrap_epilogue()
   perl -pi -e 's/if LC_ALL=C grep .GNU .PACKAGE.*; then/if true; then/' \
     po/Makefile.in.in
 
+  # Add dummy 'install-html' target, required for packages using
+  # non-recursive makefiles with older gettext.
+  # See https://debbugs.gnu.org/25690
+  if ! grep -w 'install-html' po/Makefile.in.in ; then
+    printf 'install-%s:;\n' dvi ps pdf html >> po/Makefile.in.in
+  fi
+
   # Install our git hooks, as long as "cp" accepts the --backup option,
   # so that we can back up any existing files.
   case $(cp --help) in *--backup*) backup=1;; *) backup=0;; esac