diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 3d2fa7b3deb8d6266ff28cbf9ebdba706fbbc831..186301d6b2622e067bdb6b009725afcf3134faf6 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const deps = @import("./deps.zig");
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
     const mode = b.option(std.builtin.Mode, "mode", "") orelse .Debug;
+    const disable_llvm = b.option(bool, "disable_llvm", "use the non-llvm zig codegen") orelse false;
 
     const step = b.option([]const u8, "step", "") orelse "run";
 
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .optimize = mode,
     });
     deps.addAllTo(tests);
+    tests.use_llvm = !disable_llvm;
+    tests.use_lld = !disable_llvm;
 
     const test_step = b.step("test", "Run all library tests");
     const tests_run = b.addRunArtifact(tests);