diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3df6edea64..c389207ff7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -203,6 +203,9 @@ include_directories(SYSTEM third-party/inja)
 # TODO - probably integrate with ZSTD since we have it already
 set(CURL_USE_LIBSSH2 OFF)
 set(CURL_ZLIB OFF)
+# suddenly became enabled on macOS atleast, only needed for unicode URLs
+# wasn't being properly statically linked
+set(USE_LIBIDN2 OFF)
 if(WIN32)
     set(CURL_USE_SCHANNEL ON) # native Windows SSL support
 elseif(APPLE)