diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5ce86aefbbe5d8604550599ca069ad3515e0af1e..b3deadaaf77ec9508dee29a4a6fa327a1673a464 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ add_compile_options (-funroll-loops)
 add_compile_options (-fstrict-aliasing)
 
 option (WILL_BUILD_STATIC_LIBRARY "Building static library" ON)
+option (BUILD_OPAL_PYTHON "Building Python interface for OPAL" OFF)
 if (BUILD_OPAL_PYTHON)
     option (WILL_BUILD_SHARED_LIBRARY "Building python hooks - requires dynamic libs" ON)
     find_package (Python3 COMPONENTS Development REQUIRED)