diff --git a/src/bindgen/cargo/cargo_expand.rs b/src/bindgen/cargo/cargo_expand.rs
index 997097711..679f6cd81 100644
--- a/src/bindgen/cargo/cargo_expand.rs
+++ b/src/bindgen/cargo/cargo_expand.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ pub fn expand(
         cmd.env("CARGO_TARGET_DIR", PathBuf::from(path).join("expanded"));
     }
 
+    // Set this variable so that we don't call it recursively if we expand a crate that is using
+    // cbindgen
+    cmd.env("_CBINDGEN_IS_RUNNING", "1");
+
     cmd.arg("rustc");
     cmd.arg("--lib");
     cmd.arg("--manifest-path");
diff --git a/src/bindgen/parser.rs b/src/bindgen/parser.rs
index a7cd618fd..bfa4c2167 100644
--- a/src/bindgen/parser.rs
+++ b/src/bindgen/parser.rs
@@ -179,6 +179,13 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
     fn parse_expand_crate(&mut self, pkg: &PackageRef) -> Result<(), Error> {
         assert!(self.lib.is_some());
 
+        // If you want to expand the crate you run cbindgen on you might end up in an endless
+        // recursion if the cbindgen generation is triggered from build.rs. Hence don't run the
+        // expansion if the build was already triggered by cbindgen.
+        if std::env::var("_CBINDGEN_IS_RUNNING").is_ok() {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
         let mod_parsed = {
             if !self.cache_expanded_crate.contains_key(&pkg.name) {
                 let s = self