diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3926ca24792e61919511b2f8c77e2847c5c9939d..78d86e92bc715c53089d23344b6df27ed378fb1a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@ option(OGS_ENABLE_ELEMENT_CUBOID  "Build FEM elements for cuboids (quads, hexahe
 option(OGS_ENABLE_ELEMENT_PRISM   "Build FEM elements for prisms." ON)
 option(OGS_ENABLE_ELEMENT_PYRAMID "Build FEM elements for pyramids." ON)
 
+option(OGS_CHECK_HEADER_COMPILATION "Check header for standalone compilation." OFF)
+
 ###################
 ### Definitions ###
 ###################
diff --git a/scripts/cmake/CheckHeaderCompilation.cmake b/scripts/cmake/CheckHeaderCompilation.cmake
index 6e17c297586b1c60c93d111eb9eac29a0e67c486..761442d2786a5df036a29f63749b1c32de5abba0 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/CheckHeaderCompilation.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/CheckHeaderCompilation.cmake
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_QUIET TRUE)
 
 # Checks header for standalone compilation
 function(check_header_compilation)
+    if(NOT OGS_CHECK_HEADER_COMPILATION)
+        return()
+    endif()
     string(REPLACE "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/" "" DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
     message(STATUS "Checking header compilation for ${DIRECTORY} ...")
     include(CheckCXXSourceCompiles)