diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0b05d91a..ac8822e2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ option(LOVR_ENABLE_ENET "Bundle with lua-enet" ON)
 option(LOVR_ENABLE_JSON "Bundle with lua-cjson" ON)
 
 option(LOVR_USE_LUAJIT "Use LuaJIT instead of Lua" ON)
+option(LOVR_USE_ASSIMP "Enable model loading with Assimp" ON)
 option(LOVR_USE_OPENVR "Enable the OpenVR backend for the headset module" ON)
 option(LOVR_USE_WEBVR "Enable the WebVR backend for the headset module" OFF)
 option(LOVR_USE_OCULUS "Enable the LibOVR backend for the headset module (be sure to also set LOVR_OCULUS_PATH to point to the Oculus SDK)" OFF)
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ if(LOVR_ENABLE_FILESYSTEM)
 endif()
 
 # Assimp
-if(LOVR_ENABLE_DATA)
+if(LOVR_ENABLE_DATA AND LOVR_USE_ASSIMP)
   if(LOVR_SYSTEM_ASSIMP)
     pkg_search_module(ASSIMP REQUIRED assimp)
     include_directories(${ASSIMP_INCLUDE_DIRS})
@@ -365,6 +366,10 @@ if(LOVR_ENABLE_DATA)
     src/lib/stb/stb_truetype.c
     src/lib/stb/stb_vorbis.c
   )
+
+  if (LOVR_USE_ASSIMP)
+    add_definitions(-DLOVR_USE_ASSIMP)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 if(LOVR_ENABLE_EVENT)
diff --git a/src/data/modelData.c b/src/data/modelData.c
index 8027468c..5ff77bc1 100644
--- a/src/data/modelData.c
+++ b/src/data/modelData.c
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+
+#ifdef LOVR_USE_ASSIMP
 #include <assimp/cfileio.h>
 #include <assimp/cimport.h>
 #include <assimp/config.h>
@@ -93,6 +95,35 @@ static void assimpNodeTraversal(ModelData* modelData, struct aiNode* assimpNode,
   }
 }
 
+static void aabbIterator(ModelData* modelData, ModelNode* node, float aabb[6]) {
+  for (int i = 0; i < node->primitives.length; i++) {
+    ModelPrimitive* primitive = &modelData->primitives[node->primitives.data[i]];
+    for (int j = 0; j < primitive->drawCount; j++) {
+      uint32_t index;
+      if (modelData->indexSize == sizeof(uint16_t)) {
+        index = modelData->indices.shorts[primitive->drawStart + j];
+      } else {
+        index = modelData->indices.ints[primitive->drawStart + j];
+      }
+      float vertex[3];
+      VertexPointer vertices = { .raw = modelData->vertexData->blob.data };
+      vec3_init(vertex, (float*) (vertices.bytes + index * modelData->vertexData->format.stride));
+      mat4_transform(node->globalTransform, &vertex[0], &vertex[1], &vertex[2]);
+      aabb[0] = MIN(aabb[0], vertex[0]);
+      aabb[1] = MAX(aabb[1], vertex[0]);
+      aabb[2] = MIN(aabb[2], vertex[1]);
+      aabb[3] = MAX(aabb[3], vertex[1]);
+      aabb[4] = MIN(aabb[4], vertex[2]);
+      aabb[5] = MAX(aabb[5], vertex[2]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (int i = 0; i < node->children.length; i++) {
+    ModelNode* child = &modelData->nodes[node->children.data[i]];
+    aabbIterator(modelData, child, aabb);
+  }
+}
+
 static float readMaterialScalar(struct aiMaterial* assimpMaterial, const char* key, unsigned int type, unsigned int index) {
   float scalar;
   if (aiGetMaterialFloatArray(assimpMaterial, key, type, index, &scalar, NULL) == aiReturn_SUCCESS) {
@@ -517,6 +548,12 @@ ModelData* lovrModelDataCreate(Blob* blob) {
   aiReleaseImport(scene);
   return modelData;
 }
+#else
+static void aabbIterator(ModelData* modelData, ModelNode* node, float aabb[6]) {}
+ModelData* lovrModelDataCreate(Blob* blob) {
+  return NULL;
+}
+#endif
 
 ModelData* lovrModelDataCreateEmpty() {
   return lovrAlloc(ModelData, lovrModelDataDestroy);
@@ -570,35 +607,6 @@ void lovrModelDataDestroy(void* ref) {
   free(modelData);
 }
 
-static void aabbIterator(ModelData* modelData, ModelNode* node, float aabb[6]) {
-  for (int i = 0; i < node->primitives.length; i++) {
-    ModelPrimitive* primitive = &modelData->primitives[node->primitives.data[i]];
-    for (int j = 0; j < primitive->drawCount; j++) {
-      uint32_t index;
-      if (modelData->indexSize == sizeof(uint16_t)) {
-        index = modelData->indices.shorts[primitive->drawStart + j];
-      } else {
-        index = modelData->indices.ints[primitive->drawStart + j];
-      }
-      float vertex[3];
-      VertexPointer vertices = { .raw = modelData->vertexData->blob.data };
-      vec3_init(vertex, (float*) (vertices.bytes + index * modelData->vertexData->format.stride));
-      mat4_transform(node->globalTransform, &vertex[0], &vertex[1], &vertex[2]);
-      aabb[0] = MIN(aabb[0], vertex[0]);
-      aabb[1] = MAX(aabb[1], vertex[0]);
-      aabb[2] = MIN(aabb[2], vertex[1]);
-      aabb[3] = MAX(aabb[3], vertex[1]);
-      aabb[4] = MIN(aabb[4], vertex[2]);
-      aabb[5] = MAX(aabb[5], vertex[2]);
-    }
-  }
-
-  for (int i = 0; i < node->children.length; i++) {
-    ModelNode* child = &modelData->nodes[node->children.data[i]];
-    aabbIterator(modelData, child, aabb);
-  }
-}
-
 void lovrModelDataGetAABB(ModelData* modelData, float aabb[6]) {
   aabb[0] = FLT_MAX;
   aabb[1] = -FLT_MAX;