> perl(the) is needed by MySQL-client-4.0.16-0 Add the following to your mysql.spec: Source999: filter-requires-mysql.sh %define __perl_requires %{SOURCE999} and create filter-requires-mysql.sh in SOURCES (or SOURCES/mysql or whatever your buildstructure is) with the following content: #!/bin/sh /usr/lib/rpm/perl.req $* | grep -v "perl(th" What you're doing is really at package building time excluding the dependency to perl(the) which is bogus. :) // kaj