diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
index 43d7febf2207..e490e7dee594 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
@@ -451,8 +451,9 @@ def __init__(self, name: str, env: 'Environment', kwargs: T.Dict[str, T.Any]):
 class IconvBuiltinDependency(BuiltinDependency):
     def __init__(self, name: str, env: 'Environment', kwargs: T.Dict[str, T.Any]):
         super().__init__(name, env, kwargs)
+        code = '''#include <iconv.h>\n\nint main() {\n    iconv_open("","");\n}''' # [ignore encoding] this is C, not python, Mr. Lint
 
-        if self.clib_compiler.has_function('iconv_open', '#include <iconv.h>', env)[0]:
+        if self.clib_compiler.links(code, env)[0]:
             self.is_found = True