diff --git a/data/meson.build b/data/meson.build
index dfb6e1b28..923425a08 100644
--- a/data/meson.build
+++ b/data/meson.build
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ install_data(['metadata.xml'],
   install_dir : join_paths(datadir, 'fwupd', 'remotes.d', 'fwupd')
 )
 
-install_data(['90-fwupd-devices.rules'],
-  install_dir : join_paths(udevdir, 'rules.d')
-)
+if get_option('daemon')
+  install_data(['90-fwupd-devices.rules'],
+    install_dir : join_paths(udevdir, 'rules.d')
+  )
+endif
 
 con2 = configuration_data()
 con2.set('libexecdir', libexecdir)
diff --git a/data/remotes.d/meson.build b/data/remotes.d/meson.build
index 7f3085765..824291fc5 100644
--- a/data/remotes.d/meson.build
+++ b/data/remotes.d/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-if get_option('lvfs')
+if get_option('daemon') and get_option('lvfs')
   install_data([
       'lvfs.conf',
       'lvfs-testing.conf',
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index b5317437b..ef16630df 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -134,10 +134,6 @@ add_project_arguments('-D_GNU_SOURCE', language : 'c')
 gio = dependency('gio-2.0', version : '>= 2.45.8')
 gmodule = dependency('gmodule-2.0')
 giounix = dependency('gio-unix-2.0', version : '>= 2.45.8')
-polkit = dependency('polkit-gobject-1', version : '>= 0.103')
-if polkit.version().version_compare('>= 0.114')
-  conf.set('HAVE_POLKIT_0_114', '1')
-endif
 gudev = dependency('gudev-1.0')
 if gudev.version().version_compare('>= 232')
   conf.set('HAVE_GUDEV_232', '1')
@@ -149,6 +145,17 @@ libarchive = dependency('libarchive')
 libjsonglib = dependency('json-glib-1.0', version : '>= 1.1.1')
 valgrind = dependency('valgrind', required: false)
 soup = dependency('libsoup-2.4', version : '>= 2.51.92')
+if get_option('daemon')
+  polkit = dependency('polkit-gobject-1', version : '>= 0.103')
+  if polkit.version().version_compare('>= 0.114')
+    conf.set('HAVE_POLKIT_0_114', '1')
+  endif
+  udevdir = get_option('udevdir')
+  if udevdir == ''
+    udev = dependency('udev')
+    udevdir = udev.get_pkgconfig_variable('udevdir')
+  endif
+endif
 if get_option('pkcs7')
   gnutls = dependency('gnutls', version : '>= 3.4.4.1')
   conf.set('ENABLE_PKCS7', '1')
@@ -159,7 +166,6 @@ if get_option('gpg')
   conf.set('ENABLE_GPG', '1')
 endif
 libm = cc.find_library('m', required: false)
-udev = dependency('udev')
 uuid = dependency('uuid')
 libgcab = dependency('libgcab-1.0')
 if libgcab.version().version_compare('>= 0.8')
@@ -247,11 +253,6 @@ if systemdunitdir == '' and get_option('systemd')
   systemdunitdir = systemd.get_pkgconfig_variable('systemdsystemunitdir')
 endif
 
-udevdir = get_option('udevdir')
-if udevdir == ''
-  udevdir = udev.get_pkgconfig_variable('udevdir')
-endif
-
 gnome = import('gnome')
 i18n = import('i18n')
 
@@ -288,11 +289,13 @@ subdir('data')
 subdir('docs')
 subdir('libfwupd')
 subdir('po')
-subdir('policy')
+if get_option('daemon')
+  subdir('policy')
+endif
 subdir('src')
 subdir('plugins')
 subdir('contrib')
 
-if get_option('systemd')
+if get_option('systemd') and get_option('daemon')
   meson.add_install_script('meson_post_install.sh', systemdunitdir, localstatedir)
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index fea4ba76f..1b44ef1df 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 option('bootdir', type : 'string', value : '/boot/efi', description : 'Directory for EFI system partition')
+option('daemon', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable the fwupd daemon')
 option('consolekit', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable ConsoleKit support')
 option('gpg', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable the GPG verification support')
 option('gtkdoc', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable developer documentation')
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 2d1a760f6..0684cb681 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ libfwupdprivate = static_library(
     giounix,
     gudev,
     gusb,
-    polkit,
     soup,
     sqlite,
     libarchive,
@@ -60,6 +59,7 @@ libfwupdprivate = static_library(
   ],
 )
 
+if get_option('daemon')
 fwupdmgr = executable(
   'fwupdmgr',
   sources : [
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ fwupdmgr = executable(
     giounix,
     gudev,
     gusb,
-    polkit,
     soup,
     sqlite,
     libarchive,
@@ -93,6 +92,7 @@ fwupdmgr = executable(
   install : true,
   install_dir : bindir
 )
+endif
 
 resources_src = gnome.compile_resources(
   'fwupd-resources',
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ fwupdtool = executable(
     gmodule,
     gudev,
     gusb,
-    polkit,
     soup,
     sqlite,
     valgrind,
@@ -165,7 +164,7 @@ fwupdtool = executable(
   install_dir : join_paths(libexecdir, 'fwupd')
 )
 
-if get_option('man')
+if get_option('daemon') and get_option('man')
   help2man = find_program('help2man')
   custom_target('fwupdmgr-man',
     input : fwupdmgr,
@@ -183,6 +182,7 @@ if get_option('man')
   )
 endif
 
+if get_option('daemon')
 executable(
   'fwupd',
   resources_src,
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ executable(
   install : true,
   install_dir : join_paths(libexecdir, 'fwupd')
 )
+endif
 
 if get_option('tests')
   testdatadir_src = join_paths(meson.source_root(), 'data', 'tests')
@@ -292,7 +293,6 @@ if get_option('tests')
       gmodule,
       gudev,
       gusb,
-      polkit,
       soup,
       sqlite,
       valgrind,