diff --git a/debian/autobake-deb.sh b/debian/autobake-deb.sh
index f304e984b54..9de37138ade 100755
--- a/debian/autobake-deb.sh
+++ b/debian/autobake-deb.sh
@@ -44,6 +44,15 @@ else
   sed -i -e "s/\\\${MAYBE_LIBCRACK}/${MAYBE_LIBCRACK}/g" debian/control
 fi
 
+# same for OpenSSL. Use the correct dependency
+if apt-cache madison libssl-dev|grep 'libssl-dev  *| *1\.1\.' >/dev/null 2>&1
+then
+  LIBSSL='libssl1.0-dev'
+else
+  LIBSSL='libssl-dev'
+fi
+sed -i -e "s/\\\${LIBSSL}/${LIBSSL}/g" debian/control
+
 # Adjust changelog, add new version.
 #
 echo "Incrementing changelog and starting build scripts"
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index c25ce6dd20f..9507b0557f9 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Build-Depends: bison,
                libncurses5-dev (>= 5.0-6~),
                libpam0g-dev,
                libreadline-gplv2-dev,
-               libssl-dev,
+               ${LIBSSL},
                lsb-release,
                perl (>= 5.6.0),
                po-debconf,