diff --git a/build-config/libplugin/meson.build b/build-config/libplugin/meson.build
index 50e6754..8cdd62c 100644
--- a/build-config/libplugin/meson.build
+++ b/build-config/libplugin/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-plugin_p = subproject('libplugin', default_options: ['pkg-config=' + pkg_config_bool_str])
+plugin_p = subproject('libplugin', default_options: ['pkg-config=' + pkg_config_bool_str, 'tests=' + get_option('tests')])
 libplugin = plugin_p.get_variable('libplugin')
 
 plugin_dep  = plugin_p.get_variable('plugin_dep')
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index c54b2d0..0a6af95 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 option('pkg-config', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'generate pkg-config file for all libraries and fourdst (defaults to false to allow easy pip building)')
+option('tests', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'compile subproject tests')