diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 435c0bbc98..91cbf09de7 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1410,6 +1410,9 @@ conf.set10('ENABLE_HOMED', have)
 have = have and conf.get('HAVE_PAM') == 1
 conf.set10('ENABLE_PAM_HOME', have)
 
+have = get_option('oomd') and get_option('mode') == 'developer'
+conf.set10('ENABLE_OOMD', have)
+
 want_remote = get_option('remote')
 if want_remote != 'false'
         have_deps = [conf.get('HAVE_MICROHTTPD') == 1,
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index b789e4d77f..a6a0c1e4b8 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ option('coredump', type : 'boolean',
        description : 'install the coredump handler')
 option('pstore', type : 'boolean',
        description : 'install the pstore archival tool')
-option('oomd', type : 'boolean',
+option('oomd', type : 'boolean', value : 'false',
        description : 'install the userspace oom killer')
 option('logind', type : 'boolean',
        description : 'install the systemd-logind stack')