diff --git a/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init b/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
index db342e7c8eb..504c4acf4c9 100644
--- a/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
+++ b/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
@@ -128,7 +128,8 @@ dnsmasq() {
 	append_bool "$cfg" dbus "--enable-dbus"
 	append_bool "$cfg" boguspriv "--bogus-priv"
 	append_bool "$cfg" expandhosts "--expand-hosts"
-	append_bool "$cfg" enable_tftp "--enable-tftp"
+	config_get tftp_root "$cfg" "tftp_root"
+	[ -d "$tftp_root" ] && append_bool "$cfg" enable_tftp "--enable-tftp"
 	append_bool "$cfg" tftp_no_fail "--tftp-no-fail"
 	append_bool "$cfg" nonwildcard "--bind-dynamic"
 	append_bool "$cfg" fqdn "--dhcp-fqdn"