diff --git a/README b/README
index 2cde08c37e..7d06e04800 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ REQUIREMENTS:
         libmicrohttpd (optional)
         libpython (optional)
         libidn2 or libidn (optional)
+        gnutls >= 3.1.4 (optional, >= 3.5.3 is necessary to support DNS-over-TLS)
         elfutils >= 158 (optional)
         polkit (optional)
         pkg-config
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 04331dd41a..80f59d77d8 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1137,7 +1137,7 @@ substs.set('DEFAULT_DNSSEC_MODE', default_dnssec)
 
 dns_over_tls = get_option('dns-over-tls')
 if dns_over_tls != 'false'
-        have = conf.get('HAVE_GNUTLS') == 1
+        have = libgnutls != [] and libgnutls.version().version_compare('>=3.5.3')
         if dns_over_tls == 'true' and not have
                 error('DNS-over-TLS support was requested, but dependencies are not available')
         endif