diff --git a/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylanddyn.h b/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylanddyn.h
index c867ec001..3d8d973cc 100644
--- a/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylanddyn.h
+++ b/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylanddyn.h
@@ -52,6 +52,14 @@ enum libdecor_window_state;
 #include "xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h"
 #include "xkbcommon/xkbcommon-compose.h"
 
+/* Must be included before our #defines, see Bugzilla #4957 */
+#include "wayland-client-core.h"
+
+#define SDL_WAYLAND_CHECK_VERSION(x, y, z) \
+  (WAYLAND_VERSION_MAJOR > x || \
+   (WAYLAND_VERSION_MAJOR == x && WAYLAND_VERSION_MINOR > y) || \
+   (WAYLAND_VERSION_MAJOR == x && WAYLAND_VERSION_MINOR == y && WAYLAND_VERSION_MICRO >= z))
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C"
 {
@@ -71,9 +79,6 @@ void SDL_WAYLAND_UnloadSymbols(void);
 }
 #endif
 
-/* Must be included before our #defines, see Bugzilla #4957 */
-#include "wayland-client-core.h"
-
 #ifdef SDL_VIDEO_DRIVER_WAYLAND_DYNAMIC
 
 #if defined(_WAYLAND_CLIENT_H) || defined(WAYLAND_CLIENT_H)
diff --git a/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylandsym.h b/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylandsym.h
index b28e826af..35f4dc870 100644
--- a/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylandsym.h
+++ b/src/video/wayland/SDL_waylandsym.h
@@ -77,13 +77,14 @@ SDL_WAYLAND_SYM(struct wl_proxy *, wl_proxy_marshal_constructor_versioned, (stru
 SDL_WAYLAND_SYM(void, wl_proxy_set_tag, (struct wl_proxy *, const char * const *))
 SDL_WAYLAND_SYM(const char * const *, wl_proxy_get_tag, (struct wl_proxy *))
 
-/* These were introduced in 1.20 and introduce a handful of build issues.
- * See GitHub #5376 and #4636
- * -flibit
- */
-SDL_WAYLAND_MODULE(WAYLAND_CLIENT_1_20)
+#if SDL_WAYLAND_CHECK_VERSION(1, 20, 0)
+/* wayland-scanner 1.20 generates code that will call these, so these are
+ * non-optional when we are compiling against Wayland 1.20. We don't
+ * explicitly call them ourselves, though, so if we are only compiling
+ * against Wayland 1.18, they're unnecessary. */
 SDL_WAYLAND_SYM(struct wl_proxy*, wl_proxy_marshal_flags, (struct wl_proxy *proxy, uint32_t opcode, const struct wl_interface *interfac, uint32_t version, uint32_t flags, ...))
 SDL_WAYLAND_SYM(struct wl_proxy*, wl_proxy_marshal_array_flags, (struct wl_proxy *proxy, uint32_t opcode, const struct wl_interface *interface, uint32_t version,  uint32_t flags, union wl_argument *args))
+#endif
 
 SDL_WAYLAND_INTERFACE(wl_seat_interface)
 SDL_WAYLAND_INTERFACE(wl_surface_interface)