diff --git a/bindep.txt b/bindep.txt
index f0ca0afc12b9..c4b6e5209c25 100644
--- a/bindep.txt
+++ b/bindep.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # see https://docs.openstack.org/infra/bindep/ for additional information.
 
 build-essential [platform:dpkg test]
+# fonts-freefont-otf is needed for pdf docs builds with the 'xelatex' engine
+fonts-freefont-otf [pdf-docs]
 gcc [platform:rpm test]
 # gettext and graphviz are needed by doc builds only. For transition,
 # have them in both doc and test.
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@ graphviz [doc test]
 librsvg2-tools [doc platform:rpm]
 librsvg2-bin [doc platform:dpkg]
 language-pack-en [platform:ubuntu]
+latexmk [pdf-docs]
 libffi-dev [platform:dpkg test]
 libffi-devel [platform:rpm test]
 libmysqlclient-dev [platform:dpkg]
@@ -40,5 +43,8 @@ python3-all-dev [platform:dpkg]
 python3-devel [platform:fedora]
 python34-devel [platform:centos]
 sqlite-devel [platform:rpm test]
+texlive [pdf-docs]
+texlive-latex-recommended [pdf-docs]
+texlive-xetex [pdf-docs]
 libpcre3-dev [platform:dpkg test]
 pcre-devel [platform:rpm test]