diff --git a/tools/include/linux/string.h b/tools/include/linux/string.h
index b96879477311..f436d2420a18 100644
--- a/tools/include/linux/string.h
+++ b/tools/include/linux/string.h
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ void *memdup(const void *src, size_t len);
 
 int strtobool(const char *s, bool *res);
 
-#ifdef __GLIBC__
+/*
+ * glibc based builds needs the extern while uClibc doesn't.
+ * However uClibc headers also define __GLIBC__ hence the hack below
+ */
+#if defined(__GLIBC__) && !defined(__UCLIBC__)
 extern size_t strlcpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t size);
 #endif