diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 91c8c13b..276584f9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -293,9 +293,17 @@ fi
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(PIXMAN, [pixman-1])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(PNG, [libpng])
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(WEBP, [libwebp], [have_webp=yes], [have_webp=no])
+
+AC_ARG_WITH([webp],
+            AS_HELP_STRING([--without-webp],
+                           [Use libwebp for WebP decoding support [default=auto]]))
+AS_IF([test "x$with_webp" != "xno"],
+      [PKG_CHECK_MODULES(WEBP, [libwebp], [have_webp=yes], [have_webp=no])],
+      [have_webp=no])
 AS_IF([test "x$have_webp" = "xyes"],
-      [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_WEBP], [1], [Have webp])])
+      [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_WEBP], [1], [Have webp])],
+      [AS_IF([test "x$with_webp" = "xyes"],
+             [AC_MSG_ERROR([WebP support explicitly requested, but libwebp couldn't be found])])])
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(vaapi-recorder, [  --enable-vaapi-recorder],,
 	      enable_vaapi_recorder=auto)
diff --git a/shared/image-loader.c b/shared/image-loader.c
index ec75bd4f..050f0677 100644
--- a/shared/image-loader.c
+++ b/shared/image-loader.c
@@ -352,6 +352,15 @@ load_webp(FILE *fp)
 					config.output.u.RGBA.stride);
 }
 
+#else
+
+static pixman_image_t *
+load_webp(FILE *fp)
+{
+	fprintf(stderr, "WebP support disabled at compile-time\n");
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 #endif
 
 
@@ -364,9 +373,7 @@ struct image_loader {
 static const struct image_loader loaders[] = {
 	{ { 0x89, 'P', 'N', 'G' }, 4, load_png },
 	{ { 0xff, 0xd8 }, 2, load_jpeg },
-#ifdef HAVE_WEBP
 	{ { 'R', 'I', 'F', 'F' }, 4, load_webp }
-#endif
 };
 
 pixman_image_t *