diff --git a/libdfu/meson.build b/libdfu/meson.build
index d4756b647..c5f0fe002 100644
--- a/libdfu/meson.build
+++ b/libdfu/meson.build
@@ -89,41 +89,43 @@ executable(
   install_dir : get_option('bindir')
 )
 
-gnome.generate_gir(dfu,
-  sources : [
-    'dfu-common.c',
-    'dfu-common.h',
-    'dfu-context.c',
-    'dfu-context.h',
-    'dfu-device.c',
-    'dfu-device.h',
-    'dfu-element.c',
-    'dfu-element.h',
-    'dfu-error.c',
-    'dfu-error.h',
-    'dfu-firmware.c',
-    'dfu-firmware.h',
-    'dfu-image.c',
-    'dfu-image.h',
-    'dfu-sector.c',
-    'dfu-sector.h',
-    'dfu-target.c',
-    'dfu-target.h',
-  ],
-  nsversion : '1.0',
-  namespace : 'Dfu',
-  symbol_prefix : 'dfu',
-  identifier_prefix : 'Dfu',
-  export_packages : 'dfu',
-  dependencies : deps,
-  includes : [
-    'AppStreamGlib-1.0',
-    'Gio-2.0',
-    'GObject-2.0',
-    'GUsb-1.0',
-  ],
-  install : true
-)
+if get_option('enable-introspection')
+  gnome.generate_gir(dfu,
+    sources : [
+      'dfu-common.c',
+      'dfu-common.h',
+      'dfu-context.c',
+      'dfu-context.h',
+      'dfu-device.c',
+      'dfu-device.h',
+      'dfu-element.c',
+      'dfu-element.h',
+      'dfu-error.c',
+      'dfu-error.h',
+      'dfu-firmware.c',
+      'dfu-firmware.h',
+      'dfu-image.c',
+      'dfu-image.h',
+      'dfu-sector.c',
+      'dfu-sector.h',
+      'dfu-target.c',
+      'dfu-target.h',
+    ],
+    nsversion : '1.0',
+    namespace : 'Dfu',
+    symbol_prefix : 'dfu',
+    identifier_prefix : 'Dfu',
+    export_packages : 'dfu',
+    dependencies : deps,
+    includes : [
+      'AppStreamGlib-1.0',
+      'Gio-2.0',
+      'GObject-2.0',
+      'GUsb-1.0',
+    ],
+    install : true
+  )
+endif
 
 if get_option('enable-tests')
   testdatadir = join_paths(meson.current_source_dir(), 'tests')
diff --git a/libfwupd/meson.build b/libfwupd/meson.build
index 834fa1eb6..7155927cd 100644
--- a/libfwupd/meson.build
+++ b/libfwupd/meson.build
@@ -68,39 +68,41 @@ pkgg.generate(
   description : 'fwupd is a system daemon for installing device firmware',
 )
 
-gnome.generate_gir(fwupd,
-  sources : [
-    'fwupd-client.c',
-    'fwupd-client.h',
-    'fwupd-device.c',
-    'fwupd-device.h',
-    'fwupd-enums.c',
-    'fwupd-enums.h',
-    'fwupd-error.c',
-    'fwupd-error.h',
-    'fwupd-release.c',
-    'fwupd-release.h',
-    'fwupd-remote.c',
-    'fwupd-remote.h',
-    'fwupd-result.c',
-    'fwupd-result.h',
-  ],
-  nsversion : '1.0',
-  namespace : 'Fwupd',
-  symbol_prefix : 'fwupd',
-  identifier_prefix : 'Fwupd',
-  export_packages : 'fwupd',
-  dependencies : [
-    giounix,
-    soup,
-  ],
-  includes : [
-    'Gio-2.0',
-    'GObject-2.0',
-    'Soup-2.4',
-  ],
-  install : true
-)
+if get_option('enable-introspection')
+  gnome.generate_gir(fwupd,
+    sources : [
+      'fwupd-client.c',
+      'fwupd-client.h',
+      'fwupd-device.c',
+      'fwupd-device.h',
+      'fwupd-enums.c',
+      'fwupd-enums.h',
+      'fwupd-error.c',
+      'fwupd-error.h',
+      'fwupd-release.c',
+      'fwupd-release.h',
+      'fwupd-remote.c',
+      'fwupd-remote.h',
+      'fwupd-result.c',
+      'fwupd-result.h',
+    ],
+    nsversion : '1.0',
+    namespace : 'Fwupd',
+    symbol_prefix : 'fwupd',
+    identifier_prefix : 'Fwupd',
+    export_packages : 'fwupd',
+    dependencies : [
+      giounix,
+      soup,
+    ],
+    includes : [
+      'Gio-2.0',
+      'GObject-2.0',
+      'Soup-2.4',
+    ],
+    install : true
+  )
+endif
 
 if get_option('enable-tests')
   testdatadir = join_paths(meson.source_root(), 'data')
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 2bd3a41ae..406680ac4 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 option('enable-doc', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable developer documentation')
+option('enable-introspection', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'generate GObject Introspection data')
 option('enable-man', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable man pages')
 option('enable-tests', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable tests')
 option('enable-colorhug', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'enable ColorHug support')