diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 661214bf16..244ef6329c 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -159,6 +159,11 @@ else()
 		endif()
 	endif()
 
+	option( NO_SDL_JOYSTICK "Disable SDL joystick support (Not applicable to Windows)" OFF )
+	if ( NO_SDL_JOYSTICK )
+		add_definitions( -DNO_SDL_JOYSTICK=1 )
+	endif ( NO_SDL_JOYSTICK )
+
 	if( NO_GTK )
 		add_definitions( -DNO_GTK )
 	elseif( DYN_GTK )
diff --git a/src/common/platform/posix/sdl/i_joystick.cpp b/src/common/platform/posix/sdl/i_joystick.cpp
index 9d5297ba0f..fe4b25eb64 100644
--- a/src/common/platform/posix/sdl/i_joystick.cpp
+++ b/src/common/platform/posix/sdl/i_joystick.cpp
@@ -300,8 +300,10 @@ static SDLInputJoystickManager *JoystickManager;
 
 void I_StartupJoysticks()
 {
+#ifndef NO_SDL_JOYSTICK
 	if(SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_JOYSTICK) >= 0)
 		JoystickManager = new SDLInputJoystickManager();
+#endif
 }
 void I_ShutdownInput()
 {
@@ -316,7 +318,8 @@ void I_GetJoysticks(TArray<IJoystickConfig *> &sticks)
 {
 	sticks.Clear();
 
-	JoystickManager->GetDevices(sticks);
+	if (JoystickManager)
+		JoystickManager->GetDevices(sticks);
 }
 
 void I_GetAxes(float axes[NUM_JOYAXIS])
@@ -325,7 +328,7 @@ void I_GetAxes(float axes[NUM_JOYAXIS])
 	{
 		axes[i] = 0;
 	}
-	if (use_joystick)
+	if (use_joystick && JoystickManager)
 	{
 		JoystickManager->AddAxes(axes);
 	}
@@ -333,7 +336,7 @@ void I_GetAxes(float axes[NUM_JOYAXIS])
 
 void I_ProcessJoysticks()
 {
-	if (use_joystick)
+	if (use_joystick && JoystickManager)
 		JoystickManager->ProcessInput();
 }