diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 119f4ca6..f74a4f3f 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ plugins_rep = {
 
 exclude = []
 
-if dependency('dav1d', required : false).found()
+if dependency('dav1d', required : get_option('dav1d')).found()
   plugins_rep += {'gst-plugin-dav1d' : 'libgstrsdav1d'}
 else
   exclude += ['gst-plugin-dav1d']
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59e23fe9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+option('dav1d', type : 'feature', value : 'auto', description : 'Build dav1d plugin')