diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d4f8d7b..37c6661 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ option (BUILDSWIGJAVA "Build Java API." OFF)
 option (IPK "Generate IPK using CPack" OFF)
 option (RPM "Generate RPM using CPack" OFF)
 option (BUILDPYTHON3 "Use python3 for building/installing" OFF)
+option (ENABLEEXAMPLES "Disable building of examples" ON)
 option (INSTALLGPIOTOOL "Install gpio tool" OFF)
 option (BUILDARCH "Override architecture to build for - override" OFF)
 option (TESTS "Override the addition of tests" ON)
@@ -171,4 +172,6 @@ if (RPM)
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory (src)
-add_subdirectory (examples)
+if (ENABLEEXAMPLES)
+  add_subdirectory (examples)
+endif ()