diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c533586a097aefe94adef9b4e9c688f4aad2c3ba..bab91198523ed0e6150c330c7cffc03f0eab30b4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ ENDIF()
 
 SETUP_PROJECT()
 
+OPTION (INSTALL_DATA "Install the data" ON)
 OPTION (BUILD_PYTHON_INTERFACE "Build the python unit tests and helpers" ON)
 
 IF(BUILD_PYTHON_INTERFACE)
@@ -36,9 +37,11 @@ IF(BUILD_PYTHON_INTERFACE)
     ADD_SUBDIRECTORY(unittest)
 ENDIF(BUILD_PYTHON_INTERFACE)
 
-INSTALL(DIRECTORY hyq_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
-INSTALL(DIRECTORY icub_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
-INSTALL(DIRECTORY talos_data DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
-INSTALL(DIRECTORY tiago_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
+IF(INSTALL_DATA)
+    INSTALL(DIRECTORY hyq_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
+    INSTALL(DIRECTORY icub_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
+    INSTALL(DIRECTORY talos_data DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
+    INSTALL(DIRECTORY tiago_description DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME})
+ENDIF(INSTALL_DATA)
 
 SETUP_PROJECT_FINALIZE()