diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 9b432ea..1d4d7c9 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ glib_dep = dependency('glib-2.0')
 granite_dep = dependency('granite', version: '>= 5.3.0')
 gdk_pixbuf_dep = dependency('gdk-pixbuf-2.0')
 gexiv2_dep = dependency('gexiv2')
-pk_dep = dependency('packagekit-glib2')
+pk_dep = dependency('packagekit-glib2', required: false)
 i18n = import('i18n')
 gettext_name = meson.project_name()
 
diff --git a/src/Application.vala b/src/Application.vala
index 018b7b9..c15385d 100644
--- a/src/Application.vala
+++ b/src/Application.vala
@@ -78,9 +78,11 @@ public sealed class SettingsDaemon.Application : Gtk.Application {
     protected override bool dbus_register (DBusConnection connection, string object_path) throws Error {
         base.dbus_register (connection, object_path);
 
+#if PK_AVAILABLE
         connection.register_object (object_path, new Backends.SystemUpdate ());
+#endif
 
-#if UBUNTU_DRIVERS
+#if UBUNTU_DRIVERS && PK_AVAILABLE
         connection.register_object (object_path, new Backends.UbuntuDrivers ());
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 472148b..39b7525 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -9,12 +9,18 @@ sources = files(
     'Backends/NightLightSettings.vala',
     'Backends/PowerProfilesSync.vala',
     'Backends/PrefersColorSchemeSettings.vala',
-    'Backends/SystemUpdate.vala',
-    'Utils/PkUtils.vala',
     'Utils/SessionUtils.vala',
     'Utils/SunriseSunsetCalculator.vala',
 )
 
+if pk_dep.found()
+    sources += files(
+        'Backends/SystemUpdate.vala',
+        'Utils/PkUtils.vala',
+    )
+    args += '--define=PK_AVAILABLE'
+endif
+
 args = []
 
 if get_option('ubuntu_drivers')