diff --git a/code/CMakeLists.txt b/code/CMakeLists.txt
index 4e5292f2a..8c706ea94 100644
--- a/code/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/code/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -153,6 +153,17 @@ IF(WITH_STATIC)
     IF(LIBLZMA_LIBRARIES)
       SET(LIBXML2_LIBRARIES ${LIBXML2_LIBRARIES} ${LIBLZMA_LIBRARIES})
     ENDIF()
+    # under Linux, recent libxml2 versions are linked without libicuuc & libicudata
+    IF(WITH_STATIC_EXTERNAL)
+      find_library (LIBICUUC_LIBRARY NAMES icuuc)
+      IF(LIBICUUC_LIBRARY)
+        SET(LIBXML2_LIBRARIES ${LIBXML2_LIBRARIES} ${LIBICUUC_LIBRARY})
+      ENDIF()
+      find_library (LIBICUDATA_LIBRARY NAMES icudata)
+      IF(LIBICUDATA_LIBRARY)
+        SET(LIBXML2_LIBRARIES ${LIBXML2_LIBRARIES} ${LIBICUDATA_LIBRARY})
+      ENDIF()
+    ENDIF()
   ENDIF()
 ENDIF()