diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 6e104d21c3..d1096655dc 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ option('man', type : 'combo', choices : ['auto', 'true', 'false'],
 option('html', type : 'combo', choices : ['auto', 'true', 'false'],
        value : 'false',
        description : 'build and install html pages')
+option('translations', type : 'boolean', value : true,
+       description : 'build and install translations')
 
 option('certificate-root', type : 'string', value : '/etc/ssl',
        description : 'the prefix for TLS certificates')
diff --git a/po/meson.build b/po/meson.build
index 193f614f4f..139f393e33 100644
--- a/po/meson.build
+++ b/po/meson.build
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
 
 i18n = import('i18n')
-i18n.gettext(meson.project_name(),
-             preset : 'glib',
-             data_dirs : '.')
+want_translations = get_option('translations')
+
+if want_translations
+        i18n.gettext(meson.project_name(),
+                     preset : 'glib',
+                     data_dirs : '.')
+endif