diff --git a/include/libweston/meson.build b/include/libweston/meson.build
index fc1070c5f..b821dc06f 100644
--- a/include/libweston/meson.build
+++ b/include/libweston/meson.build
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ backend_vnc_h =      files('backend-vnc.h')
 backend_wayland_h =  files('backend-wayland.h')
 backend_x11_h =      files('backend-x11.h')
 
+dbus_h =         files('dbus.h')
 xwayland_api_h = files('xwayland-api.h')
 
 libweston_version_h = configuration_data()
diff --git a/libweston/dbus.c b/libweston/dbus/dbus.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libweston/dbus.c
rename to libweston/dbus/dbus.c
diff --git a/libweston/dbus/meson.build b/libweston/dbus/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3adc37461
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libweston/dbus/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+if not get_option('dbus')
+	dep_dbus = declare_dependency()
+	subdir_done()
+endif
+
+dbus_dep = dependency('dbus-1', version: '>= 1.6', required: false)
+if not dbus_dep.found()
+	error('dbus support requires dbus-1 >= 1.6 which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Ddbus=false\'')
+endif
+
+config_h.set('HAVE_DBUS', '1')
+
+srcs_dbus = [
+	'dbus.c',
+]
+
+deps_dbus = [
+	dep_libweston_private,
+	dbus_dep,
+]
+
+lib_dbus = static_library(
+	'dbus',
+	srcs_dbus,
+	include_directories: common_inc,
+	dependencies: deps_dbus,
+	name_prefix: '',
+	install: true,
+	install_dir: dir_module_libweston
+)
+
+dep_dbus = declare_dependency(
+	link_with: lib_dbus,
+	dependencies: deps_dbus,
+	include_directories: include_directories('.')
+)
+
+install_headers(dbus_h, subdir: dir_include_libweston_install)
diff --git a/libweston/meson.build b/libweston/meson.build
index 849531a1d..dc24eebe1 100644
--- a/libweston/meson.build
+++ b/libweston/meson.build
@@ -172,38 +172,43 @@ if get_option('backend-drm')
 endif
 
 systemd_dep = dependency('', required: false)
+
+subdir('dbus')
+
 if get_option('deprecated-launcher-logind')
+	if not get_option('dbus')
+		error('dbus support is required for deprecated-launcher-logind')
+	endif
+
 	systemd_dep = dependency('libsystemd', version: '>= 209', required: false)
 	if not systemd_dep.found()
 		error('logind support requires libsystemd >= 209. Or, you can use \'-Ddeprecated-launcher-logind=false\'')
 	endif
 
-	dbus_dep = dependency('dbus-1', version: '>= 1.6', required: false)
-	if not dbus_dep.found()
-		error('logind support requires dbus-1 >= 1.6 which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Ddeprecated-launcher-logind=false\'')
-	endif
-
-	config_h.set('HAVE_DBUS', '1')
 	config_h.set('HAVE_SYSTEMD_LOGIN', '1')
 
 	srcs_session_helper += [
-		'dbus.c',
 		'launcher-logind.c',
 	]
 	deps_session_helper += [
-		dbus_dep,
+		dep_dbus,
 		systemd_dep,
 	]
 
 	warning('deprecated-launcher-logind is enabled. This will go away, see https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/weston/-/issues/488')
 endif
 if get_option('launcher-libseat')
+	if not get_option('dbus')
+		error('dbus support is required for launcher-libseat')
+	endif
+
 	libseat_dep = dependency('libseat', version: '>= 0.4')
 	config_h.set('HAVE_LIBSEAT', '1')
 	srcs_session_helper += [
 		'launcher-libseat.c',
 	]
 	deps_session_helper += [
+		dep_dbus,
 		libseat_dep,
 	]
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index e132be9ee..0d5536440 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -156,6 +156,13 @@ option(
 	description: 'DEPRECATED: color management plugin cms-colord (requires cms-static)'
 )
 
+option(
+	'dbus',
+	type: 'boolean',
+	value: true,
+	description: 'D-Bus protocol support'
+)
+
 option(
 	'deprecated-launcher-logind',
 	type: 'boolean',