--- a/extern/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ if(WITH_BULLET)
 endif()
 
 if(WITH_DRACO)
-  add_subdirectory(draco)
+  if(NOT WITH_SYSTEM_DRACO)
+    add_subdirectory(draco)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 if(WITH_BINRELOC)
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -475,6 +475,10 @@ if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
   option(WITH_SYSTEM_LZO "Use the system LZO library" OFF)
 endif()
 option(WITH_DRACO "Enable Draco mesh compression Python module (used for glTF)" ON)
+if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
+  option(WITH_SYSTEM_DRACO "Use the system DRACO library" OFF)
+  mark_as_advanced(WITH_SYSTEM_DRACO)
+endif()
 
 # Camera/motion tracking
 option(WITH_LIBMV "Enable Libmv structure from motion library" ON)
--- a/source/creator/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/creator/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ if(WITH_PYTHON)
   endif()
   unset(FREESTYLE_EXCLUDE_CONDITIONAL)

-  if(WITH_DRACO)
+  if(WITH_DRACO AND NOT WITH_SYSTEM_DRACO)
     install(
       PROGRAMS $<TARGET_FILE:extern_draco>
       DESTINATION ${TARGETDIR_VER}/scripts/addons_core/io_scene_gltf2