diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9f72a83..c75f49d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ pkg_check_modules(WAVSEN_SWRESAMPLE           IMPORTED_TARGET libswresample>=3)
 # Optional: VAAPI hardware decode. Headers + symbols come from libavutil
 # itself; libva pkg-config is presence-checked so the build also succeeds
 # against an FFmpeg compiled without --enable-vaapi.
-pkg_check_modules(WAVSEN_LIBVA                IMPORTED_TARGET libva libva-drm)
+option(WAVSEM_USE_VAAPI "VAAPI hardware decode" ON)
+if(WAVSEM_USE_VAAPI)
+    pkg_check_modules(WAVSEN_LIBVA   REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libva libva-drm)
+endif()
 
 set(WAVSEN_AUDIO_BACKEND "pulse" CACHE STRING
     "Audio backend for wavsen::audio (pulse|pipewire)")