diff --git a/Tools/ardupilotwaf/ardupilotwaf.py b/Tools/ardupilotwaf/ardupilotwaf.py
index ff755256e7..7b7f18b990 100644
--- a/Tools/ardupilotwaf/ardupilotwaf.py
+++ b/Tools/ardupilotwaf/ardupilotwaf.py
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ IGNORED_AP_LIBRARIES = [
 
 @conf
 def ap_get_all_libraries(bld):
+    if bld.env.BOOTLOADER:
+        # we don't need the full set of libraries for the bootloader build
+        return ['AP_HAL']
     libraries = []
     for lib_node in bld.srcnode.ant_glob('libraries/*', dir=True, src=False):
         name = lib_node.name