diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 4a509e7..5119fab 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -232,7 +232,9 @@ if get_option('gtk_doc')
   subdir('doc/libaccountsservice')
 endif
 
-subdir('tests')
+if get_option('tests')
+  subdir('tests')
+endif
 
 configure_file(
   output: 'config.h',
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index b34a0fa..56872c7 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ option('vapi', type: 'boolean', value: true, description : 'Enable Vala bindings
 
 option('docbook', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'build documentation (requires xmlto)')
 option('gtk_doc', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'use gtk-doc to build documentation')
+option('tests', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'tests')
