diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d7c1618d..69158580 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@
   foot only supports level 1 and 2 (and not level 0), this sequence
   does not disable _modifyOtherKeys_ completely, but simply reverts it
   back to level 1 (the default).
+* `-Dtests=false|true` meson command line option. When disabled, test
+  binaries will neither be built, nor will `ninja test` attempt to
+  execute them. Enabled by default
+  (https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/919).
 
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 2452fafc..1ce5260e 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -140,14 +140,15 @@ mkdir -p bld/release && cd bld/release
 
 Available compile-time options:
 
-| Option                               | Type    | Default               | Description                      | Extra dependencies |
-|--------------------------------------|---------|-----------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------|
-| `-Ddocs`                             | feature | `auto`                | Builds and install documentation | scdoc              |
-| `-Dime`                              | bool    | `true`                | Enables IME support              | None               |
-| `-Dgrapheme-clustering`              | feature | `auto`                | Enables grapheme clustering      | libutf8proc        |
-| `-Dterminfo`                         | feature | `enabled`             | Build and install terminfo files | tic (ncurses)      |
-| `-Ddefault-terminfo`                 | string  | `foot`                | Default value of `TERM`          | none               |
-| `-Dcustom-terminfo-install-location` | string  | `${datadir}/terminfo` | Value to set `TERMINFO` to       | None               |
+| Option                               | Type    | Default               | Description                                    | Extra dependencies |
+|--------------------------------------|---------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
+| `-Ddocs`                             | feature | `auto`                | Builds and install documentation               | scdoc              |
+| `-Dtests`                            | bool    | `true`                | Build tests (adds a `ninja test` build target) | none               |
+| `-Dime`                              | bool    | `true`                | Enables IME support                            | None               |
+| `-Dgrapheme-clustering`              | feature | `auto`                | Enables grapheme clustering                    | libutf8proc        |
+| `-Dterminfo`                         | feature | `enabled`             | Build and install terminfo files               | tic (ncurses)      |
+| `-Ddefault-terminfo`                 | string  | `foot`                | Default value of `TERM`                        | none               |
+| `-Dcustom-terminfo-install-location` | string  | `${datadir}/terminfo` | Value to set `TERMINFO` to                     | None               |
 
 Documentation includes the man pages, readme, changelog and license
 files.
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7ebdb672..fb67857b 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -303,7 +303,10 @@ endif
 
 subdir('completions')
 subdir('icons')
-subdir('tests')
+
+if (get_option('tests'))
+  subdir('tests')
+endif
 
 summary(
   {
@@ -315,6 +318,7 @@ summary(
     'Terminfo install location': terminfo_install_location,
     'Default TERM': get_option('default-terminfo'),
     'Set TERMINFO': get_option('custom-terminfo-install-location') != '',
+    'Build tests': get_option('tests'),
   },
   bool_yn: true
 )
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index ccc7d5a1..255ca0ae 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ option('ime', type: 'boolean', value: true,
 option('grapheme-clustering', type: 'feature',
        description: 'Enables grapheme clustering using libutf8proc. Requires fcft with harfbuzz support to be useful.')
 
+option('tests', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Build tests')
+
 option('terminfo', type: 'feature', value: 'enabled', description: 'Build and install foot\'s terminfo files.')
 option('default-terminfo', type: 'string', value: 'foot',
        description: 'Default value of the "term" option in foot.ini.')