diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1c3780bf3..c8186e095 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
       FORCE)
 endif()
 
+option(ICINGA2_WITH_MYSQL "MySQL support" ON)
+option(ICINGA2_WITH_PGSQL "PostgreSQL support" ON)
+
 file(STRINGS icinga2.spec VERSION_LINE REGEX "^Version: ")
 string(REPLACE "Version: " "" ICINGA2_VERSION ${VERSION_LINE})
 
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 68b064d41..1fad5b71c 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -25,9 +25,12 @@ parentheses):
 * Boost library and header files (boost-devel on RHEL, libboost-all-dev on Debian)
 * GNU bison (bison)
 * GNU flex (flex) >= 2.5.35
-* recommended: libexecinfo on FreeBSD
-* optional: MySQL (mysql-devel on RHEL, libmysqlclient-dev on Debian)
-* optional: PostgreSQL (postgresql-devel on RHEL, libpq-dev on Debian)
+* recommended: libexecinfo on FreeBSD (automatically used when Icinga 2 is
+               installed via port or package)
+* optional: MySQL (mysql-devel on RHEL, libmysqlclient-dev on Debian) set CMake
+             variable `ICINGA2_WITH_MYSQL` to enable
+* optional: PostgreSQL (postgresql-devel on RHEL, libpq-dev on Debian) set CMake
+            variable `ICINGA2_WITH_PGSQL` to enable
 * optional: YAJL (yajl-devel on RHEL, libyajl-dev on Debian)
 
 Note: RHEL5 ships an ancient flex version. Updated packages are available for
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index d246681d9..7504c605a 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,8 +25,15 @@ add_subdirectory(hello)
 add_subdirectory(remote)
 add_subdirectory(checker)
 add_subdirectory(compat)
-add_subdirectory(db_ido_mysql)
-add_subdirectory(db_ido_pgsql)
+
+if(ICINGA2_WITH_MYSQL)
+       add_subdirectory(db_ido_mysql)
+endif()
+
+if(ICINGA2_WITH_PGSQL)
+       add_subdirectory(db_ido_pgsql)
+endif()
+
 add_subdirectory(demo)
 add_subdirectory(livestatus)
 add_subdirectory(notification)
diff --git a/lib/db_ido_mysql/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/db_ido_mysql/CMakeLists.txt
index a2799ac39..c81fbdacd 100644
--- a/lib/db_ido_mysql/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/db_ido_mysql/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,4 +58,6 @@ if(MYSQL_FOUND)
       DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}/icinga2-ido-mysql/schema
       FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.sql"
     )
+else()
+    message( FATAL_ERROR "You have selected MySQL support, but MySQL could not be found." )
 endif()
diff --git a/lib/db_ido_pgsql/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/db_ido_pgsql/CMakeLists.txt
index 0136a6d5a..912b0c30d 100644
--- a/lib/db_ido_pgsql/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/db_ido_pgsql/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -60,4 +60,6 @@ if(PostgreSQL_FOUND)
       DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}/icinga2-ido-pgsql/schema
       FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.sql"
     )
+else()
+    message( FATAL_ERROR "You have selected PostgreSQL support, but PostgreSQL could not be found." )
 endif()