diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index ab1ea2572..03f872a7b 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ if cc.has_header('sys/soundcard.h')
   cdata.set_quoted('PULSEDSP_LOCATION',	pulsedspdir)
 endif
 
-avahi_dep = dependency('avahi-client', version : '>= 0.6.0', required : false)
+avahi_dep = dependency('avahi-client', version : '>= 0.6.0', required : get_option('avahi'))
 if avahi_dep.found()
   cdata.set('HAVE_AVAHI', 1)
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 683d25805..3bd4b94f9 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ option('pulsedspdir',
 option('alsa',
        type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description : 'Optional ALSA support')
+option('avahi',
+       type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
+       description : 'Optional Avahi support')
 option('dbus',
        type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description : 'Optional D-Bus support')