diff --git a/modules/objdetect/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/objdetect/CMakeLists.txt
index f4d5b22b74..305211ca0a 100644
--- a/modules/objdetect/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/objdetect/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 set(the_description "Object Detection")
-ocv_define_module(objdetect opencv_core opencv_imgproc opencv_calib3d opencv_dnn WRAP java objc python js)
+ocv_define_module(objdetect
+    opencv_core
+    opencv_imgproc
+    opencv_calib3d
+    OPTIONAL
+        opencv_dnn
+    WRAP
+        python
+        java
+        objc
+        js
+)
 
 if(HAVE_QUIRC)
     get_property(QUIRC_INCLUDE GLOBAL PROPERTY QUIRC_INCLUDE_DIR)
diff --git a/modules/objdetect/src/face_detect.cpp b/modules/objdetect/src/face_detect.cpp
index a9ca2d8957..10259a32e6 100644
--- a/modules/objdetect/src/face_detect.cpp
+++ b/modules/objdetect/src/face_detect.cpp
@@ -6,13 +6,16 @@
 
 #include "opencv2/imgproc.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/core.hpp"
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
 #include "opencv2/dnn.hpp"
+#endif
 
 #include <algorithm>
 
 namespace cv
 {
 
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
 class FaceDetectorYNImpl : public FaceDetectorYN
 {
 public:
@@ -273,6 +276,7 @@ private:
 
     std::vector<Rect2f> priors;
 };
+#endif
 
 Ptr<FaceDetectorYN> FaceDetectorYN::create(const String& model,
                                            const String& config,
@@ -283,7 +287,12 @@ Ptr<FaceDetectorYN> FaceDetectorYN::create(const String& model,
                                            const int backend_id,
                                            const int target_id)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
     return makePtr<FaceDetectorYNImpl>(model, config, input_size, score_threshold, nms_threshold, top_k, backend_id, target_id);
+#else
+    CV_UNUSED(model); CV_UNUSED(config); CV_UNUSED(input_size); CV_UNUSED(score_threshold); CV_UNUSED(nms_threshold); CV_UNUSED(top_k); CV_UNUSED(backend_id); CV_UNUSED(target_id);
+    CV_Error(cv::Error::StsNotImplemented, "cv::FaceDetectorYN requires enabled 'dnn' module.");
+#endif
 }
 
 } // namespace cv
diff --git a/modules/objdetect/src/face_recognize.cpp b/modules/objdetect/src/face_recognize.cpp
index 66271068b2..497303e42b 100644
--- a/modules/objdetect/src/face_recognize.cpp
+++ b/modules/objdetect/src/face_recognize.cpp
@@ -4,13 +4,17 @@
 
 #include "precomp.hpp"
 
+#include "opencv2/core.hpp"
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
 #include "opencv2/dnn.hpp"
+#endif
 
 #include <algorithm>
 
 namespace cv
 {
 
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
 class FaceRecognizerSFImpl : public FaceRecognizerSF
 {
 public:
@@ -173,10 +177,16 @@ private:
 private:
     dnn::Net net;
 };
+#endif
 
 Ptr<FaceRecognizerSF> FaceRecognizerSF::create(const String& model, const String& config, int backend_id, int target_id)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_OPENCV_DNN
     return makePtr<FaceRecognizerSFImpl>(model, config, backend_id, target_id);
+#else
+    CV_UNUSED(model); CV_UNUSED(config); CV_UNUSED(backend_id); CV_UNUSED(target_id);
+    CV_Error(cv::Error::StsNotImplemented, "cv::FaceRecognizerSF requires enabled 'dnn' module");
+#endif
 }
 
 } // namespace cv