diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 4fb347f4c..e9de7498d 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ include /usr/share/dpkg/buildflags.mk
 
 export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj
 
+# choose radius lib
+export FREERADIUS=$(shell dpkg --list libfreeradius-client-dev >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo 1 || echo 0)
+
 # modules not in the "main" kamailio package
 EXCLUDED_MODULES=