diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 76f72a9df7c..2802467f70e 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -437,7 +437,8 @@ endif
 
 # Android uses emutls for versions <= P/28. For USE_ELF_TLS we need ELF TLS.
 use_elf_tls = false
-if not ['windows', 'freebsd', 'openbsd'].contains(host_machine.system()) and (not with_platform_android or get_option('platform-sdk-version') >= 29)
+with_use_elf_tls = get_option('use-elf-tls')
+if with_use_elf_tls and not ['windows', 'freebsd'].contains(host_machine.system()) and (not with_platform_android or get_option('platform-sdk-version') >= 29)
   pre_args += '-DUSE_ELF_TLS'
   use_elf_tls = true
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index bf031eeb11f..46bd7c4d898 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -406,3 +406,9 @@ option(
   value : 'auto',
   description : 'Use ZSTD instead of ZLIB in some cases.'
 )
+option(
+  'use-elf-tls',
+  type : 'boolean',
+  value : false,
+  description : 'Build support for initial-exec TLS model'
+)