diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6da964fe1..8bc01987f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ endif()
 option(WITH_HOOKS   "Build with support for processing hook plugins" ON)
 option(WITH_WEB     "Build with internal webserver" ON)
 option(WITH_API     "Build with remote control API" ON)
-option(WITH_CONFIG  "Build with support for libconfig configuration syntax" ON)
+option(WITH_CONFIG  "Build with support for libconfig configuration syntax" ${LIBCONFIG_FOUND})
 option(WITH_SRC     "Build villas-* executables" ${TOPLEVEL_PROJECT})
 option(WITH_TOOLS   "Build auxilary tools" ${TOPLEVEL_PROJECT})
 option(WITH_TESTS   "Run tests" ${TOPLEVEL_PROJECT})
diff --git a/include/villas/config.hpp b/include/villas/config.hpp
index deea164e0..3780dd7b5 100644
--- a/include/villas/config.hpp
+++ b/include/villas/config.hpp
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ protected:
 	/** Decode configuration file. */
 	void decode();
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 	/** Convert libconfig .conf file to libjansson .json file. */
 	void libconfigDecode();
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 	/** Load configuration from standard input (stdim). */
 	void loadFromStdio();
diff --git a/include/villas/config_helper.hpp b/include/villas/config_helper.hpp
index 23ae8cb5d..31fb6e368 100644
--- a/include/villas/config_helper.hpp
+++ b/include/villas/config_helper.hpp
@@ -24,19 +24,19 @@
 
 #include <jansson.h>
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
-#include <libconfig.h>
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
+  #include <libconfig.h>
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 #include <villas/sample.h>
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 /** Convert a libconfig object to a jansson object */
 json_t *config_to_json(config_setting_t *cfg);
 
 /** Convert a jansson object into a libconfig object. */
 int json_to_config(json_t *json, config_setting_t *parent);
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 int json_object_extend_str(json_t *orig, const char *str);
 
diff --git a/include/villas/node/config.h.in b/include/villas/node/config.h.in
index f191420a2..c66c0a3fc 100644
--- a/include/villas/node/config.h.in
+++ b/include/villas/node/config.h.in
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 #cmakedefine WITH_WEB
 #cmakedefine WITH_API
 #cmakedefine WITH_HOOKS
+#cmakedefine WITH_CONFIG
 
 /* OS Headers */
 #cmakedefine HAS_EVENTFD
diff --git a/include/villas/node/exceptions.hpp b/include/villas/node/exceptions.hpp
index fcfe11880..55e41838f 100644
--- a/include/villas/node/exceptions.hpp
+++ b/include/villas/node/exceptions.hpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public:
 	{ }
 };
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 class LibconfigParseError : public ParseError {
 
 protected:
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public:
 		config(c)
 	{ }
 };
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 class JanssonParseError : public ParseError {
 
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 744188399..d2a2f2ab0 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ list(APPEND WHOLE_ARCHIVES nodes)
 add_subdirectory(formats)
 list(APPEND WHOLE_ARCHIVES formats)
 
-if(LIBCONFIG_FOUND)
+if(WITH_CONFIG)
     list(APPEND INCLUDE_DIRS ${LIBCONFIG_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     list(APPEND LIBRARIES PkgConfig::LIBCONFIG)
 endif()
diff --git a/lib/config.cpp b/lib/config.cpp
index ec614f4b1..f8f96fa1b 100644
--- a/lib/config.cpp
+++ b/lib/config.cpp
@@ -113,15 +113,16 @@ void Config::decode()
 
 	root = json_loadf(local_file, 0, &err);
 	if (root == nullptr) {
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 		/* We try again to parse the config in the legacy format */
 		libconfigDecode();
 #else
 		throw JanssonParseError(err);
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 	}
 }
 
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 void Config::libconfigDecode()
 {
 	int ret;
@@ -158,6 +159,7 @@ void Config::libconfigDecode()
 
 	config_destroy(&cfg);
 }
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 void Config::prettyPrintError(json_error_t err)
 {
diff --git a/lib/config_helper.cpp b/lib/config_helper.cpp
index 945c72640..9a4a8bc79 100644
--- a/lib/config_helper.cpp
+++ b/lib/config_helper.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include <villas/config_helper.hpp>
 #include <villas/utils.h>
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 
 static int json_to_config_type(int type)
 {
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ int json_to_config(json_t *json, config_setting_t *parent)
 
 	return 0;
 }
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
 
 void json_object_extend_key_value_token(json_t *obj, const char *key, const char *value)
 {
diff --git a/tests/unit/config_json.cpp b/tests/unit/config_json.cpp
index 7e9150343..42881615d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/config_json.cpp
+++ b/tests/unit/config_json.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <criterion/criterion.h>
 
-#ifdef LIBCONFIG_FOUND
+#ifdef WITH_CONFIG
 
 #include <jansson.h>
 #include <libconfig.h>
@@ -117,4 +117,4 @@ Test(utils, json_to_config)
 	json_decref(json);
 }
 
-#endif /* LIBCONFIG_FOUND */
+#endif /* WITH_CONFIG */
diff --git a/tools/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
index e5450ba4e..6f918e026 100644
--- a/tools/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 ###################################################################################
 
-if(LIBCONFIG_FOUND)
+if(WITH_CONFIG)
     add_executable(conf2json conf2json.cpp)
     target_link_libraries(conf2json PUBLIC villas)