diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 077db3ab1..b3e51a501 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -12,7 +12,13 @@ else
     incdir = 'single_include'
 endif
 
+cpp_args = [
+    '-DJSON_USE_GLOBAL_UDLS=@0@'.format(
+        (not get_option('GlobalUDLs')).to_int()),
+]
+
 nlohmann_json_dep = declare_dependency(
+    compile_args: cpp_args,
     include_directories: include_directories(incdir)
 )
 meson.override_dependency('nlohmann_json', nlohmann_json_dep)
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 0fc9d2e6b..27d3878ab 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -4,3 +4,9 @@ option(
     value: true,
     description: 'Use non-amalgamated version of the library',
 )
+option(
+    'GlobalUDLs',
+    type: 'boolean',
+    value: true,
+    description: 'Place user-defined string literals in the global namespace',
+)