diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 54b044d3..74fa70c9 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ caffe_option(BUILD_python "Build Python wrapper" ON)
 set(python_version "2" CACHE STRING "Specify which python version to use")
 caffe_option(BUILD_matlab "Build Matlab wrapper" OFF IF UNIX OR APPLE)
 caffe_option(BUILD_docs   "Build documentation" ON IF UNIX OR APPLE)
+caffe_option(BUILD_python_layer "Build the caffe python layer" ON)
 
 # ---[ Dependencies
 include(cmake/Dependencies.cmake)
diff --git a/cmake/Dependencies.cmake b/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
index 7a9b2af6..c5c0fd26 100644
--- a/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ if(BUILD_python)
   endif()
   if(PYTHONLIBS_FOUND AND NUMPY_FOUND AND Boost_PYTHON_FOUND)
     set(HAVE_PYTHON TRUE)
+    if(BUILD_python_layer)
+      add_definitions(-DWITH_PYTHON_LAYER)
+      include_directories(SYSTEM ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIR} ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+      list(APPEND Caffe_LINKER_LIBS ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
+    endif()
   endif()
 endif()