diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c3b0569c..3cfec808 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ project('lite-xl',
     license : 'MIT',
     meson_version : '>= 0.56',
     default_options : [
-        'c_std=gnu11',
-        'wrap_mode=nofallback'
+        'c_std=gnu11'
     ]
 )
 
@@ -84,23 +83,27 @@ if not get_option('source-only')
         'lua',    # Fedora
     ]
 
-    foreach lua : lua_names
-        last_lua = (lua == lua_names[-1] or get_option('wrap_mode') == 'forcefallback')
-        lua_dep = dependency(lua, fallback: last_lua ? ['lua', 'lua_dep'] : [], required : false,
-            version: '>= 5.4',
+    if get_option('use_system_lua')
+        foreach lua : lua_names
+            last_lua = (lua == lua_names[-1] or get_option('wrap_mode') == 'forcefallback')
+            lua_dep = dependency(lua, required : false,
+            )
+            if lua_dep.found()
+                break
+            endif
+
+            if last_lua
+                # If we could not find lua on the system and fallbacks are disabled
+                # try the compiler as a last ditch effort, since Lua has no official
+                # pkg-config support.
+                lua_dep = cc.find_library('lua', required : true)
+            endif
+        endforeach
+    else
+        lua_dep = dependency('', fallback: ['lua', 'lua_dep'], required : true,
             default_options: default_fallback_options + ['default_library=static', 'line_editing=false', 'interpreter=false']
         )
-        if lua_dep.found()
-            break
-        endif
-
-        if last_lua
-            # If we could not find lua on the system and fallbacks are disabled
-            # try the compiler as a last ditch effort, since Lua has no official
-            # pkg-config support.
-            lua_dep = cc.find_library('lua', required : true)
-        endif
-    endforeach
+    endif
 
     pcre2_dep = dependency('libpcre2-8', fallback: ['pcre2', 'libpcre2_8'],
         default_options: default_fallback_options + ['default_library=static', 'grep=false', 'test=false']
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 9cfcc353..ae9d8c6b 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@ option('source-only', type : 'boolean', value : false, description: 'Configure s
 option('portable', type : 'boolean', value : false, description: 'Portable install')
 option('renderer', type : 'boolean', value : false, description: 'Use SDL renderer')
 option('dirmonitor_backend', type : 'combo', value : '', choices : ['', 'inotify', 'fsevents', 'kqueue', 'win32', 'dummy'], description: 'define what dirmonitor backend to use')
-option('arch_tuple', type : 'string', value : '', description: 'Specify a custom architecture tuple')
\ No newline at end of file
+option('arch_tuple', type : 'string', value : '', description: 'Specify a custom architecture tuple')
+option('use_system_lua', type : 'boolean', value : false, description: 'Prefer System Lua over a the meson wrap')