diff --git a/libvirt.changes b/libvirt.changes
index 7004a1b..701d060 100644
--- a/libvirt.changes
+++ b/libvirt.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Mon May  7 17:06:10 UTC 2018 - jfehlig@suse.com
+
+- spec: enable libssh support for suse_version >= 1500
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Wed May  2 21:42:09 UTC 2018 - jfehlig@suse.com
 
diff --git a/libvirt.spec b/libvirt.spec
index 18bd157..cd135d9 100644
--- a/libvirt.spec
+++ b/libvirt.spec
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 %define with_sanlock       0%{!?_without_sanlock:1}
 %define with_polkit_rules  1
 %define with_wireshark     0%{!?_without_wireshark:1}
+%define with_libssh2       0%{!?_without_libssh2:1}
 
 # A few optional bits off by default, we enable later
 %define with_cgconfig      0%{!?_without_cgconfig:0}
@@ -105,6 +106,11 @@
     %define with_firewalld 1
 %endif
 
+# Enable libssh support in newer code bases
+%if 0%{?suse_version} >= 1500
+    %define with_libssh    1
+%endif
+
 # TODO: On what distros can we support bash-completion?
 #       SLE12 builds seem fine, but configure fails to detect
 #       completion support on openSUSE distros.
@@ -282,7 +288,9 @@ BuildRequires:  libnuma-devel
 BuildRequires:  fuse-devel >= 2.8.6
 BuildRequires:  libcap-ng-devel >= 0.5.0
 BuildRequires:  libnetcontrol-devel >= 0.2.0
+%if %{with_libssh2}
 BuildRequires:  libssh2-devel
+%endif
 %if %{with_esx}
 BuildRequires:  libcurl-devel
 %endif