diff --git a/math/octave-forge-optim/Makefile b/math/octave-forge-optim/Makefile
index 8e0de72da161..b4b2601eb9f1 100644
--- a/math/octave-forge-optim/Makefile
+++ b/math/octave-forge-optim/Makefile
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ LICENSE_NAME=	See individual files for licenses
 LICENSE_FILE=	${WRKDIR}/${OCTAVE_SRC}/COPYING
 LICENSE_PERMS=	dist-mirror dist-sell pkg-mirror pkg-sell auto-accept
 
+BROKEN=		does not build with octave version >= 10.1.0
+
 RUN_DEPENDS=	${OCTAVE_TARBALLS_DIR}/statistics.tar.gz:math/octave-forge-statistics \
 		${OCTAVE_TARBALLS_DIR}/struct.tar.gz:math/octave-forge-struct