diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 2104469e..c052e85a 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ option('lc-compliance',
         value : 'auto',
         description : 'Compile the lc-compliance test application')
 
+option('libunwind',
+        type : 'feature',
+        value : 'auto',
+        description : 'Enable libunwind integration for backtrace generation')
+
 option('pipelines',
         type : 'array',
         value : ['auto'],
diff --git a/src/libcamera/base/meson.build b/src/libcamera/base/meson.build
index a742dfdf..bcf37f71 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/base/meson.build
+++ b/src/libcamera/base/meson.build
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ libcamera_base_internal_sources = files([
 ])
 
 libdw = dependency('libdw', required : false)
-libunwind = dependency('libunwind', required : false)
+libunwind = dependency('libunwind', required : get_option('libunwind'))
 
 if cc.has_header_symbol('execinfo.h', 'backtrace')
     config_h.set('HAVE_BACKTRACE', 1)