diff --git a/lib/0-utils.sh b/lib/0-utils.sh
index 9b496ca..98a1c78 100644
--- a/lib/0-utils.sh
+++ b/lib/0-utils.sh
@@ -381,6 +381,22 @@ using_cmake_4() {
     line_starts_with "${cmakeVersion}" 4
 }
 
+have_req_meson_version() {
+    local min=1.6.1
+    have_required_version "$(meson --version)" "${min}"
+}
+
+have_required_version() {
+    local have="$1"
+    local min="$2"
+    local hMaj hMin hPatch mMaj mMin mPatch
+    IFS=. read -r hMaj hMin hPatch <<<"${have}"
+    IFS=. read -r mMaj mMin mPatch <<<"${min}"
+    test "${hMaj}" -ge "${mMaj}" &&
+        test "${hMin}" -ge "${mMin}" &&
+        test "${hPatch}" -ge "${mPatch}"
+}
+
 recreate_dir() {
     local dirs=("$@")
     for dir in "${dirs[@]}"; do
diff --git a/lib/build.sh b/lib/build.sh
index b9d2de0..68114cf 100644
--- a/lib/build.sh
+++ b/lib/build.sh
@@ -368,16 +368,16 @@ glad              2.0.8        tar.gz    https://github.com/Dav1dde/glad/archive
 libx265           4.1          tar.gz    https://bitbucket.org/multicoreware/x265_git/downloads/x265_${ver}.${ext} libnuma
 libnuma           2.0.19       tar.gz    https://github.com/numactl/numactl/archive/refs/tags/v${ver}.${ext}
 
-libass            0.17.4       tar.xz    https://github.com/libass/libass/releases/download/${ver}/libass-${ver}.${ext} libfreetype,libfribidi,libunibreak,libxml2,xz,libfontconfig
+libass            0.17.4       tar.xz    https://github.com/libass/libass/releases/download/${ver}/libass-${ver}.${ext} libfreetype,libharfbuzz,libfribidi,libunibreak,libxml2,xz
+libfontconfig     2.17.1       tar.xz    https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/api/v4/projects/890/packages/generic/fontconfig/${ver}/fontconfig-${ver}.${ext} libharfbuzz,expat,brotli
+libfreetype       2.14.1       tar.xz    https://downloads.sourceforge.net/freetype/freetype-${ver}.${ext} bzip,libpng,zlib,brotli
+libharfbuzz       12.3.0       tar.xz    https://github.com/harfbuzz/harfbuzz/releases/download/${ver}/harfbuzz-${ver}.${ext} libfreetype
 libunibreak       6.1          tar.gz    https://github.com/adah1972/libunibreak/releases/download/libunibreak_${ver//./_}/libunibreak-${ver}.${ext}
 libxml2           2.15.1       tar.gz    https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2/archive/refs/tags/v${ver}.${ext}
 xz                5.8.2        tar.xz    https://github.com/tukaani-project/xz/releases/download/v${ver}/xz-${ver}.${ext}
 libfribidi        1.0.16       tar.xz    https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/releases/download/v${ver}/fribidi-${ver}.${ext}
-libfreetype       2.14.1       tar.xz    https://downloads.sourceforge.net/freetype/freetype-${ver}.${ext} zlib,bzip,libpng,libharfbuzz,brotli
 bzip              latest       git       https://github.com/libarchive/bzip2.git
-libharfbuzz       12.3.0       tar.xz    https://github.com/harfbuzz/harfbuzz/releases/download/${ver}/harfbuzz-${ver}.${ext}
 brotli            1.2.0        tar.gz    https://github.com/google/brotli/archive/refs/tags/v${ver}.${ext}
-libfontconfig     2.17.1       tar.xz    https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/api/v4/projects/890/packages/generic/fontconfig/${ver}/fontconfig-${ver}.${ext} expat
 expat             2.7.3        tar.xz    https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/releases/download/R_${ver//./_}/expat-${ver}.${ext}
 '
     local supported_builds=()
diff --git a/lib/docker.sh b/lib/docker.sh
index 8f14a49..76c056f 100644
--- a/lib/docker.sh
+++ b/lib/docker.sh
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ docker_build_image() {
         echo 'USER 65534:65534'
         # pipx
         echo "RUN pipx install virtualenv"
+        echo "RUN pipx install meson"
         # rust
         local rustupVersion='1.28.2'
         local rustcVersion='1.90.0'
diff --git a/lib/install_deps.sh b/lib/install_deps.sh
index be6b924..84bbb07 100644
--- a/lib/install_deps.sh
+++ b/lib/install_deps.sh
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ check_for_req_pkgs() {
     has_cmd pipx || echo_if_fail python3 -m pipx ensurepath && source ~/.bashrc || return 1
     echo_if_fail pipx install virtualenv || return 1
     echo_if_fail pipx ensurepath || return 1
-    has_cmd meson || echo_if_fail pipx install meson || return 1
+    has_cmd meson && have_req_meson_version || echo_if_fail pipx install meson || return 1
     echo_pass "pipx is installed"
 
     # shellcheck disable=SC1091