diff --git a/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1/AppxManifest.xml.in b/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1/AppxManifest.xml.in
index 91353c608b..b02b691f48 100644
--- a/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1/AppxManifest.xml.in
+++ b/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1/AppxManifest.xml.in
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
       </m2:VisualElements>
     </Application>
   </Applications>$${WINRT_MANIFEST.capabilities}
-  <Dependencies>$${WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies}
-  </Dependencies>
+  $${WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies}
 </Package>
 <!-- Generated by qmake using the $$[QMAKE_XSPEC] mkspec. -->
diff --git a/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1_wp/AppxManifest.xml.in b/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1_wp/AppxManifest.xml.in
index 19deb94675..235fe96794 100644
--- a/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1_wp/AppxManifest.xml.in
+++ b/mkspecs/common/winrt_winphone/manifests/8.1_wp/AppxManifest.xml.in
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@
       </m3:VisualElements>
     </Application>
   </Applications>$${WINRT_MANIFEST.capabilities}
-  <Dependencies>$${WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies}
-  </Dependencies>
+  $${WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies}
 </Package>
 <!-- Generated by qmake using the $$[QMAKE_XSPEC] mkspec. -->
diff --git a/mkspecs/features/winrt/package_manifest.prf b/mkspecs/features/winrt/package_manifest.prf
index 0f6f185170..9b4a6672e5 100644
--- a/mkspecs/features/winrt/package_manifest.prf
+++ b/mkspecs/features/winrt/package_manifest.prf
@@ -125,10 +125,14 @@
 
     # Dependencies are given as a string list. The CRT dependency is added automatically above.
     # For MSVC2015 the dependencies are added in conjunction with TargetDeviceFamily
+    # Due to the hard coded dependency on "Windows.Universal" the <Dependencies> tag
+    # is already inside the MSVC2015 manifest.
     WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies = $$unique(WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies)
     !isEmpty(WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies) {
+        *-msvc2013: MANIFEST_DEPENDENCIES += "<Dependencies>"
         for(DEPENDENCY, WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies): \
             MANIFEST_DEPENDENCIES += "  <PackageDependency Name=\"$$DEPENDENCY\" />"
+        *-msvc2013: MANIFEST_DEPENDENCIES += "</Dependencies>"
 
         WINRT_MANIFEST.dependencies = $$join(MANIFEST_DEPENDENCIES, $$INDENT, $$INDENT)
     }