diff --git a/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build b/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
index 3425b27211..bf2c73721f 100644
--- a/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
+++ b/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@
 # ICU4C is used for repertoire tests
 
 
-if meson.version().version_compare('<=0.57.0') # TODO-LDML: right # here?
-  # fallback to pkg-config
+if build_machine.system() == 'linux'
+  # use pkg-config on linux
   pkgconfig = 'pkg-config'
   icu_uc = dependency('icu-uc', required: true)
 else
+  # load ICU from wrap
   icu4c = subproject('icu-minimal', default_options: [ 'default_library=static', 'cpp_std=c++17', 'warning_level=0',
-'werror=false']) # TODO-LDML: options: static, no data
+'werror=false']) # TODO-LDML: options: static, no data (these are in the meson build files)
   icu_uc = icu4c.get_variable('icuuc_dep')
 endif