diff --git a/ov_core/CMakeLists.txt b/ov_core/CMakeLists.txt
index a4a1bc23d..ecc1cc82b 100644
--- a/ov_core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ov_core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ endif ()
 find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system filesystem thread date_time)
 message(STATUS "OPENCV: " ${OpenCV_VERSION} " | BOOST: " ${Boost_VERSION})
 
+# By default we build with ROS, but you can disable this and just build as a library
+option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
+
 # If we will compile with aruco support
 option(ENABLE_ARUCO_TAGS "Enable or disable aruco tag (disable if no contrib modules)" ON)
 if (NOT ENABLE_ARUCO_TAGS)
@@ -51,14 +54,14 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -g3 -Wall -Wuninitialized -Wmaybe-uninit
 # NOTE: https://github.com/romainreignier/share_ros1_ros2_lib_demo
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp)
 find_package(ament_cmake QUIET)
-if (catkin_FOUND)
+if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *1* version found, building ROS1.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
-elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND)
+elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *2* version found, building ROS2.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS2.cmake)
 else ()
-    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found, building ROS1.cmake")
+    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found or building with ROS disabled, building ROS1.cmake without ROS")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
 endif ()
 
diff --git a/ov_core/cmake/ROS1.cmake b/ov_core/cmake/ROS1.cmake
index 6db18fbeb..93d016424 100644
--- a/ov_core/cmake/ROS1.cmake
+++ b/ov_core/cmake/ROS1.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp rosbag sensor_msgs cv_bridge)
 
 # Describe ROS project
-option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
 if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     add_definitions(-DROS_AVAILABLE=1)
     catkin_package(
diff --git a/ov_eval/CMakeLists.txt b/ov_eval/CMakeLists.txt
index 27abb8920..f60c1959e 100644
--- a/ov_eval/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ov_eval/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ project(ov_eval)
 find_package(Eigen3 REQUIRED)
 find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system filesystem thread date_time)
 
+# By default we build with ROS, but you can disable this and just build as a library
+option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
+
 # check if we have our python libs files (will search for python3 then python2 installs)
 # sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib python-numpy python-dev
 # https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.10/module/FindPythonLibs.html
@@ -36,14 +39,14 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -g3 -Wall -Wuninitialized -Wmaybe-uninit
 # NOTE: https://github.com/romainreignier/share_ros1_ros2_lib_demo
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp)
 find_package(ament_cmake QUIET)
-if (catkin_FOUND)
+if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *1* version found, building ROS1.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
-elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND)
+elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *2* version found, building ROS2.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS2.cmake)
 else ()
-    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found, building ROS1.cmake")
+    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found or building with ROS disabled, building ROS1.cmake without ROS")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
 endif ()
 
diff --git a/ov_eval/cmake/ROS1.cmake b/ov_eval/cmake/ROS1.cmake
index 12ed33bf9..9d10e6f57 100644
--- a/ov_eval/cmake/ROS1.cmake
+++ b/ov_eval/cmake/ROS1.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp rospy geometry_msgs nav_msgs sensor_msgs ov_core)
 
 # Describe ROS project
-option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
 if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     add_definitions(-DROS_AVAILABLE=1)
     catkin_package(
diff --git a/ov_init/CMakeLists.txt b/ov_init/CMakeLists.txt
index 7df06547a..0e7c58ade 100644
--- a/ov_init/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ov_init/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system filesystem thread date_time)
 find_package(Ceres REQUIRED)
 message(STATUS "OPENCV: " ${OpenCV_VERSION} " | BOOST: " ${Boost_VERSION} " | CERES: " ${Ceres_VERSION})
 
+# By default we build with ROS, but you can disable this and just build as a library
+option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
+
 # check if we have our python libs files (will search for python3 then python2 installs)
 # sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib python-numpy python-dev
 # https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.10/module/FindPythonLibs.html
@@ -44,14 +47,14 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -g3 -Wall -Wuninitialized -Wmaybe-uninit
 # NOTE: https://github.com/romainreignier/share_ros1_ros2_lib_demo
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp)
 find_package(ament_cmake QUIET)
-if (catkin_FOUND)
+if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *1* version found, building ROS1.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
-elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND)
+elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *2* version found, building ROS2.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS2.cmake)
 else ()
-    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found, building ROS1.cmake")
+    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found or building with ROS disabled, building ROS1.cmake without ROS")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
 endif ()
 
diff --git a/ov_init/cmake/ROS1.cmake b/ov_init/cmake/ROS1.cmake
index f058e5ef6..c83be64c3 100644
--- a/ov_init/cmake/ROS1.cmake
+++ b/ov_init/cmake/ROS1.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp ov_core)
 
 # Describe ROS project
-option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
 if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     add_definitions(-DROS_AVAILABLE=1)
     catkin_package(
diff --git a/ov_msckf/CMakeLists.txt b/ov_msckf/CMakeLists.txt
index d62570fe0..5f8a2eb63 100644
--- a/ov_msckf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ov_msckf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system filesystem thread date_time)
 find_package(Ceres REQUIRED)
 message(STATUS "OPENCV: " ${OpenCV_VERSION} " | BOOST: " ${Boost_VERSION} " | CERES: " ${Ceres_VERSION})
 
+# By default we build with ROS, but you can disable this and just build as a library
+option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
+
 # If we will compile with aruco support
 option(ENABLE_ARUCO_TAGS "Enable or disable aruco tag (disable if no contrib modules)" ON)
 if (NOT ENABLE_ARUCO_TAGS)
@@ -38,14 +41,14 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -g3 -Wall -Wuninitialized -fno-omit-fram
 # NOTE: https://github.com/romainreignier/share_ros1_ros2_lib_demo
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp)
 find_package(ament_cmake QUIET)
-if (catkin_FOUND)
+if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *1* version found, building ROS1.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
-elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND)
+elseif (ament_cmake_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     message(STATUS "ROS *2* version found, building ROS2.cmake")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS2.cmake)
 else ()
-    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found, building ROS1.cmake")
+    message(STATUS "No ROS versions found or building with ROS disabled, building ROS1.cmake without ROS")
     include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ROS1.cmake)
 endif ()
 
diff --git a/ov_msckf/cmake/ROS1.cmake b/ov_msckf/cmake/ROS1.cmake
index 5f3a9a494..2ea4292cf 100644
--- a/ov_msckf/cmake/ROS1.cmake
+++ b/ov_msckf/cmake/ROS1.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
 find_package(catkin QUIET COMPONENTS roscpp rosbag tf std_msgs geometry_msgs sensor_msgs nav_msgs visualization_msgs image_transport cv_bridge ov_core ov_init)
 
 # Describe ROS project
-option(ENABLE_ROS "Enable or disable building with ROS (if it is found)" ON)
 if (catkin_FOUND AND ENABLE_ROS)
     add_definitions(-DROS_AVAILABLE=1)
     catkin_package(