diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 0631ae4c6..30f02752b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2973,6 +2973,7 @@ version = "0.0.0-dev.0"
 dependencies = [
  "cc",
  "tectonic_bridge_graphite2",
+ "tectonic_cfg_support",
  "tectonic_dep_support",
 ]
 
diff --git a/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/Cargo.toml b/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/Cargo.toml
index 0bf7d5bc9..b6f9e84ee 100644
--- a/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ tectonic_bridge_graphite2 = { path = "../bridge_graphite2", version = "0.0.0-dev
 [build-dependencies]
 cc = "^1.0.66"
 tectonic_dep_support = { path = "../dep_support", version = "0.0.0-dev.0" }
+tectonic_cfg_support = { path = "../cfg_support", version = "0.0.0-dev.0" }
 
 [features]
 external-harfbuzz = []
@@ -32,3 +33,4 @@ external-harfbuzz = []
 [package.metadata.internal_dep_versions]
 tectonic_bridge_graphite2 = "2722731f9e32c6963fe8c8566a201b33672c5c5a"
 tectonic_dep_support = "5faf4205bdd3d31101b749fc32857dd746f9e5bc"
+tectonic_cfg_support = "thiscommit:aeRoo7oa"
diff --git a/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/build.rs b/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/build.rs
index 0a26c8688..71d6841f0 100644
--- a/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/build.rs
+++ b/crates/bridge_harfbuzz/build.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 #[cfg(feature = "external-harfbuzz")]
 mod inner {
+    use std::env;
+    use tectonic_cfg_support::target_cfg;
     use tectonic_dep_support::{Configuration, Dependency, Spec};
 
     struct HarfbuzzSpec;
@@ -39,7 +41,16 @@ mod inner {
 
         let mut sep = "cargo:include-path=";
 
+        let is_macos_external =
+            target_cfg!(target_os = "macos") && env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_EXTERNAL_HARFBUZZ").is_ok();
+
         dep.foreach_include_path(|p| {
+            // HACK: On macOS, the default brew harfbuzz for some reason points into the harfbuzz
+            // folder itself, so we need to go up one level to the includes folder.
+            if is_macos_external && p.ends_with("harfbuzz") {
+                print!("{}{}", sep, p.parent().unwrap().to_str().unwrap());
+                sep = ";";
+            }
             print!("{}{}", sep, p.to_str().unwrap());
             sep = ";";
         });