diff --git a/games-fps/alephone/alephone-20250302-r2.ebuild b/games-fps/alephone/alephone-20250302-r2.ebuild
index a283af01b494a..83a9c1bb2a794 100644
--- a/games-fps/alephone/alephone-20250302-r2.ebuild
+++ b/games-fps/alephone/alephone-20250302-r2.ebuild
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ RDEPEND="
 	dev-libs/zziplib:=
 	media-libs/openal
 	media-libs/libpng
-	media-libs/libsdl2
+	media-libs/libsdl2[joystick]
 	media-libs/libsndfile[-minimal]
 	media-libs/sdl2-image[png]
 	media-libs/sdl2-net
diff --git a/games-fps/alephone/alephone-99999999.ebuild b/games-fps/alephone/alephone-99999999.ebuild
index a283af01b494a..83a9c1bb2a794 100644
--- a/games-fps/alephone/alephone-99999999.ebuild
+++ b/games-fps/alephone/alephone-99999999.ebuild
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ RDEPEND="
 	dev-libs/zziplib:=
 	media-libs/openal
 	media-libs/libpng
-	media-libs/libsdl2
+	media-libs/libsdl2[joystick]
 	media-libs/libsndfile[-minimal]
 	media-libs/sdl2-image[png]
 	media-libs/sdl2-net