diff --git a/ext/session/config.m4 b/ext/session/config.m4
index 71908232da0..2ba655bfe85 100644
--- a/ext/session/config.m4
+++ b/ext/session/config.m4
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ if test "$PHP_SESSION" != "no"; then
   PHP_PWRITE_TEST
   PHP_PREAD_TEST
   PHP_NEW_EXTENSION(session, mod_user_class.c session.c mod_files.c mod_mm.c mod_user.c, $ext_shared,, -DZEND_ENABLE_STATIC_TSRMLS_CACHE=1)
-  PHP_ADD_EXTENSION_DEP(session, spl)
+  dnl https://bugs.php.net/53141
+  PHP_ADD_EXTENSION_DEP(session, spl, true)
   PHP_SUBST(SESSION_SHARED_LIBADD)
   PHP_INSTALL_HEADERS([ext/session], [php_session.h mod_files.h mod_user.h])
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PHP_SESSION,1,[ ])
diff --git a/ext/session/config.w32 b/ext/session/config.w32
index bb3df15ac29..e3163f9edb5 100644
--- a/ext/session/config.w32
+++ b/ext/session/config.w32
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ ARG_ENABLE("session", "session support", "yes");
 
 if (PHP_SESSION == "yes") {
 	EXTENSION("session", "mod_user_class.c session.c mod_files.c mod_mm.c mod_user.c", false /* never shared */, "/DZEND_ENABLE_STATIC_TSRMLS_CACHE=1");
+	// https://bugs.php.net/53141
+	ADD_EXTENSION_DEP('session', 'spl', true);
 	AC_DEFINE("HAVE_PHP_SESSION", 1, "Session support");
 	PHP_INSTALL_HEADERS("ext/session", "mod_mm.h php_session.h mod_files.h mod_user.h");
 }
diff --git a/ext/session/session.c b/ext/session/session.c
index bce05401559..d14d5f96ebc 100644
--- a/ext/session/session.c
+++ b/ext/session/session.c
@@ -2998,7 +2998,7 @@ static PHP_MINFO_FUNCTION(session) /* {{{ */
 /* }}} */
 
 static const zend_module_dep session_deps[] = { /* {{{ */
-	ZEND_MOD_REQUIRED("spl")
+	ZEND_MOD_OPTIONAL("spl")
 	ZEND_MOD_END
 };
 /* }}} */