diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml
index 0ed35d99e9..5affb64d95 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml
@@ -2216,7 +2216,9 @@ ninja install
       different subdirectories may render the installation non-relocatable,
       meaning you won't be able to move it after installation.
       (The <literal>man</literal> and <literal>doc</literal> locations are
-      not affected by this restriction.)
+      not affected by this restriction.)  For relocatable installs, you
+      might want to use the <literal>-Drpath=false</literal> option
+      described later.
      </para>
 
      <variablelist>
@@ -2856,6 +2858,25 @@ ninja install
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
 
+     <varlistentry id="configure-rpath-meson">
+      <term><option>-Drpath={ true | false }</option></term>
+      <listitem>
+       <para>
+        This option is set to true by default.  If set to false,
+        do not mark <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>'s executables
+        to indicate that they should search for shared libraries in the
+        installation's library directory (see <option>--libdir</option>).
+        On most platforms, this marking uses an absolute path to the
+        library directory, so that it will be unhelpful if you relocate
+        the installation later.  However, you will then need to provide
+        some other way for the executables to find the shared libraries.
+        Typically this requires configuring the operating system's
+        dynamic linker to search the library directory; see
+        <xref linkend="install-post-shlibs"/> for more detail.
+       </para>
+      </listitem>
+     </varlistentry>
+
      <varlistentry id="configure-binary-name-meson">
       <term><option>-D<replaceable>BINARY_NAME</replaceable>=<replaceable>PATH</replaceable></option></term>
       <listitem>
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 656777820c..26be83afb6 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2572,7 +2572,6 @@ default_target_args = {
 
 default_lib_args = default_target_args + {
   'name_prefix': '',
-  'install_rpath': ':'.join(lib_install_rpaths),
 }
 
 internal_lib_args = default_lib_args + {
@@ -2583,14 +2582,25 @@ internal_lib_args = default_lib_args + {
 default_mod_args = default_lib_args + {
   'name_prefix': '',
   'install_dir': dir_lib_pkg,
-  'install_rpath': ':'.join(mod_install_rpaths),
 }
 
 default_bin_args = default_target_args + {
   'install_dir': dir_bin,
-  'install_rpath': ':'.join(bin_install_rpaths),
 }
 
+if get_option('rpath')
+  default_lib_args += {
+    'install_rpath': ':'.join(lib_install_rpaths),
+  }
+
+  default_mod_args += {
+    'install_rpath': ':'.join(mod_install_rpaths),
+  }
+
+  default_bin_args += {
+    'install_rpath': ':'.join(bin_install_rpaths),
+  }
+endif
 
 
 # Helper for exporting a limited number of symbols
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 9d3ef4aa20..7d33c9f1d4 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ option('extra_version', type : 'string', value: '',
 option('darwin_sysroot', type : 'string', value: '',
   description: 'select a non-default sysroot path')
 
+option('rpath', type : 'boolean', value: true,
+  description: 'whether to embed shared library search path in executables')
+
 
 # External dependencies
 
diff --git a/src/makefiles/meson.build b/src/makefiles/meson.build
index bf7303dc99..5a0032ab0d 100644
--- a/src/makefiles/meson.build
+++ b/src/makefiles/meson.build
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ pgxs_kv = {
   'abs_top_srcdir': meson.source_root(),
 
   'enable_thread_safety': 'yes',
-  'enable_rpath': 'yes',
+  'enable_rpath': get_option('rpath') ? 'yes' : 'no',
   'enable_nls': libintl.found() ? 'yes' : 'no',
   'enable_tap_tests': tap_tests_enabled ? 'yes' : 'no',
   'enable_debug': get_option('debug') ? 'yes' : 'no',