diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index cb012982cf..ad42602783 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ for ARG in "$@"; do
         --strip             ) flags="$flags -DCMAKE_BUILD_STRIP=TRUE" ;;
         --sdl12             ) flags="$flags -DSDL2_API=FALSE" ;;
         --extra             ) flags="$flags -DEXTRA_PLUGINS=TRUE" ;;
+        --use-system-yaml   ) flags="$flags -DUSE_SYSTEM_YAML=TRUE" ;;
         --asan              ) flags="$flags -DUSE_ASAN=TRUE" ;;
         --gtk2              ) flags="$flags -DGTK2_API=TRUE" ;;
         --lto               ) flags="$flags -DUSE_LTO=TRUE" ;;
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ for ARG in "$@"; do
             echo "** Distribution Compatibilities **"
             echo "--sdl12         : Build with SDL1.2 (requires if wx is linked against SDL1.2)"
             echo "--no-portaudio  : Skip portaudio for spu2x."
+            echo "--use-system-yaml  : Use the system version of yaml-cpp, if available."
             echo
             echo "** Expert Developer option **"
             echo "--gtk2          : use GTK 2 instead of GTK 3"
diff --git a/cmake/BuildParameters.cmake b/cmake/BuildParameters.cmake
index a3ea1999e6..3ca4bdb700 100644
--- a/cmake/BuildParameters.cmake
+++ b/cmake/BuildParameters.cmake
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 option(DISABLE_BUILD_DATE "Disable including the binary compile date")
 option(ENABLE_TESTS "Enables building the unit tests" ON)
+option(USE_SYSTEM_YAML "Uses a system version of yaml, if found")
 
 if(DISABLE_BUILD_DATE OR openSUSE)
     message(STATUS "Disabling the inclusion of the binary compile date.")
diff --git a/cmake/SearchForStuff.cmake b/cmake/SearchForStuff.cmake
index 5b6896a692..07ff6c2490 100644
--- a/cmake/SearchForStuff.cmake
+++ b/cmake/SearchForStuff.cmake
@@ -269,15 +269,22 @@ else()
     message(STATUS "Found fmt: ${fmt_VERSION}")
 endif()
 
-find_package(yaml-cpp "0.6.3" QUIET)
-if(NOT yaml-cpp_FOUND)
+if(USE_SYSTEM_YAML)
+    find_package(yaml-cpp "0.6.3" QUIET)
+    if(NOT yaml-cpp_FOUND)
+        message(STATUS "No system yaml-cpp was found")
+        set(USE_SYSTEM_YAML OFF)
+    else()
+        message(STATUS "Found yaml-cpp: ${yaml-cpp_VERSION}")
+        message(STATUS "Note that the latest release of yaml-cpp is very outdated, and the bundled submodule in the repo has over a year of bug fixes and as such is preferred.")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_YAML)
     if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/yaml-cpp/yaml-cpp/CMakeLists.txt")
-        message(STATUS "No system yaml-cpp was found. Using bundled")
+        message(STATUS "Using bundled yaml-cpp")
         add_subdirectory(3rdparty/yaml-cpp/yaml-cpp EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
     else()
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "No system or bundled yaml-cpp was found")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "No bundled yaml-cpp was found")
     endif()
-else()
-    message(STATUS "Found yaml-cpp: ${yaml-cpp_VERSION}")
-    message(STATUS "Note that the latest release of yaml-cpp is very outdated, and the bundled submodule in the repo has over a year of bug fixes and as such is preferred.")
 endif()