diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index b08ee1539..71118d6ae 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ if speex_dep.found()
   cdata.set('HAVE_SPEEX', 1)
 endif
 
-udev_dep = dependency('libudev', version : '>= 143', required : false)
+udev_dep = dependency('libudev', version : '>= 143', required : get_option('udev'))
 if udev_dep.found()
   cdata.set('HAVE_UDEV', 1)
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index ce90355de..816feedc3 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ option('speex',
 option('systemd',
        type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description : 'Optional systemd support')
+option('udev',
+       type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
+       description : 'Optional udev support')
 option('x11',
        type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description : 'Optional X11 support')