diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index d9b2023c80..40abf01daf 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ option('vduse_blk_export', type: 'feature', value: 'auto',
 
 option('capstone', type: 'feature', value: 'auto',
        description: 'Whether and how to find the capstone library')
-option('fdt', type: 'combo', value: 'auto',
+option('fdt', type: 'combo', value: 'disabled',
        choices: ['disabled', 'enabled', 'auto', 'system', 'internal'],
        description: 'Whether and how to find the libfdt library')