diff --git a/gio/meson.build b/gio/meson.build
index 462606f3b..396ca2f4c 100644
--- a/gio/meson.build
+++ b/gio/meson.build
@@ -930,7 +930,7 @@ endif
 
 # Dependencies used by executables below
 have_libelf = false
-libelf = dependency('libelf', version : '>= 0.8.12', required : get_option ('libelf'))
+libelf = dependency('libelf', version : '>= 0.8.12', required : false)
 if libelf.found()
   have_libelf = true
 else