diff --git a/recipes-kf5/tier2/kfilemetadata.inc b/recipes-kf5/tier2/kfilemetadata.inc
--- a/recipes-kf5/tier2/kfilemetadata.inc
+++ b/recipes-kf5/tier2/kfilemetadata.inc
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 
 inherit cmake_kf5
 inherit ki18n
+inherit distro_features_check
+
+REQUIRED_DISTRO_FEATURES += "xattr"
 
 FILES_${PN} += " \
   ${libdir}/plugins/kf5/kfilemetadata/*.so \