diff --git a/Tools/ardupilotwaf/cxx_checks.py b/Tools/ardupilotwaf/cxx_checks.py
index 425ab4974e..e342686e84 100644
--- a/Tools/ardupilotwaf/cxx_checks.py
+++ b/Tools/ardupilotwaf/cxx_checks.py
@@ -162,6 +162,10 @@ def check_lttng(cfg, env):
 
 @conf
 def check_libiio(cfg, env):
+    if cfg.options.disable_libiio:
+        cfg.msg("Checking for 'libiio':", 'disabled', color='YELLOW')
+        return False
+
     cfg.check_cfg(package='libiio', mandatory=False, global_define=True,
                   args=['--libs', '--cflags'])
     env.LIB += cfg.env['LIB_LIBIIO']
diff --git a/wscript b/wscript
index 903e384f66..dac4d3fd81 100644
--- a/wscript
+++ b/wscript
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ revisions.
         default=False,
         help="Don't use lttng even if supported by board and dependencies available")
 
+    g.add_option('--disable-libiio', action='store_true',
+        default=False,
+        help="Don't use libiio even if supported by board and dependencies available")
+
 def _collect_autoconfig_files(cfg):
     for m in sys.modules.values():
         paths = []