diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index acd9dbcf..c190f7ed 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ awk=find_program(['gawk', 'awk'])
 # soft dependencies
 
 # emacs -- needed for mu4e compilation
-emacs=find_program(['emacs'], version: '>=25.3', required:false)
+emacs_name=get_option('emacs')
+emacs=find_program([emacs_name], version: '>=25.3', required:false)
 if not emacs.found()
   message('emacs not found; not pre-compiling mu4e sources')
 endif
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index df75223a..416fe1a2 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -24,3 +24,8 @@ option('readline',
        type: 'feature',
        value: 'auto',
        description: 'enable readline support for the mu4e repl')
+
+option('emacs',
+       type: 'string',
+       value: 'emacs',
+       description: 'name/path of the emacs executable')