diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index d77e1b88334542533fb35d39c7fa54d2d9dc7dd6..bac022edbb6935534f414c0e56d3e5b393a19e3b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 ## Process this file with automake to produce Makefile.in
 #
-SUBDIRS = src interfaces app examples examples/pio tests
+SUBDIRS = src interfaces examples examples/pio tests
+if ENABLE_CDI_APP
+SUBDIRS += app
+endif
 #
 EXTRA_DIST=config/default \
 	doc/cdi_cman.pdf \
diff --git a/m4/acx_options.m4 b/m4/acx_options.m4
index 997cb0dfe47d4ca3be01d3d634924ae8d4817ff9..9f4be6c773b8676145260c31d32b502388b5e828 100644
--- a/m4/acx_options.m4
+++ b/m4/acx_options.m4
@@ -278,6 +278,12 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([hirlam-extensions],
               [enable_hirlam_extensions=no])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_hirlam_extensions])
 AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_HIRLAM_EXTENSIONS],[test x$enable_hirlam_extensions = 'xyes'])
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Build CDI application
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([cdi-app],
+              [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-cdi-app],[build and install CDI application [default=yes]])],
+              [], [enable_cdi_app=yes])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_CDI_APP], [test x$enable_cdi_app = 'xyes'])
 #
 ])
 dnl