diff --git a/meson.options b/meson.options
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c603beb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meson.options
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+option('build_tools', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Enable or disable building the cli tools')
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 10941c5..0fffc74 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 subdir('ducktorrent')
-subdir('cli')
+
+if get_option('build_tools')
+  subdir('cli')
+endif