diff --git a/scripts/package-metadata.pl b/scripts/package-metadata.pl
index 76b09a56eb..27215f5e57 100755
--- a/scripts/package-metadata.pl
+++ b/scripts/package-metadata.pl
@@ -191,9 +191,9 @@ sub mconf_depends {
 				$depend = shift @vdeps;
 
 				if (@vdeps > 1) {
-					$condition = ($condition ? "$condition && " : '') . '!('.join("||", map { "PACKAGE_".$_ } @vdeps).')';
+					$condition = ($condition ? "$condition && " : '') . join("&&", map { "PACKAGE_$_<PACKAGE_$pkgname" } @vdeps);
 				} elsif (@vdeps > 0) {
-					$condition = ($condition ? "$condition && " : '') . '!PACKAGE_'.$vdeps[0];
+					$condition = ($condition ? "$condition && " : '') . "PACKAGE_${vdeps[0]}<PACKAGE_$pkgname";
 				}
 			}