diff --git a/src/core/linux/SDL_dbus.h b/src/core/linux/SDL_dbus.h
index 8174c20af..6326ba7c2 100644
--- a/src/core/linux/SDL_dbus.h
+++ b/src/core/linux/SDL_dbus.h
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@
 #define SDL_USE_LIBDBUS 1
 #include <dbus/dbus.h>
 
+#ifndef DBUS_TIMEOUT_USE_DEFAULT
+#define DBUS_TIMEOUT_USE_DEFAULT -1
+#endif
+
 typedef struct SDL_DBusContext
 {
     DBusConnection *session_conn;