diff --git a/scripts/build-ffmpeg.py b/scripts/build-ffmpeg.py
index a483044..779145a 100644
--- a/scripts/build-ffmpeg.py
+++ b/scripts/build-ffmpeg.py
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@
             name="freetype",
             requires=["png"],
             source_url="https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.10.1.tar.gz",
+            # At this point we have not built our own harfbuzz and we do NOT want to
+            # pick up the system's harfbuzz.
+            build_argments=["--with-harfbuzz=no"],
         ),
         Package(
             name="fontconfig",