diff --git a/panda/metalibs/panda/Sources.pp b/panda/metalibs/panda/Sources.pp
index 4fa620b48b..430ed44a80 100644
--- a/panda/metalibs/panda/Sources.pp
+++ b/panda/metalibs/panda/Sources.pp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #define DIR_TYPE metalib
 #define BUILDING_DLL BUILDING_PANDA
+#define USE_NET yes
 
 #define LOCAL_LIBS \
     pstatclient grutil chan chancfg \
diff --git a/panda/metalibs/pandaexpress/Sources.pp b/panda/metalibs/pandaexpress/Sources.pp
index cb494cbc9d..57148641e6 100644
--- a/panda/metalibs/pandaexpress/Sources.pp
+++ b/panda/metalibs/pandaexpress/Sources.pp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #define DIR_TYPE metalib
 #define BUILDING_DLL BUILDING_PANDAEXPRESS
+#define USE_NET yes
 
 #define LOCAL_LIBS downloader event ipc express pandabase
 #define OTHER_LIBS dtool