diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index aee378bdb2..3ed237fa5e 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const use_zig_libcxx = b.option(bool, "use-zig-libcxx", "If libc++ is needed, use zig's bundled version, don't try to integrate with the system") orelse false;
 
     const test_step = b.step("test", "Run all the tests");
-    const skip_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "no-lib", "skip copying of lib/ files and langref to installation prefix. Useful for development") orelse false;
+    const skip_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "no-lib", "skip copying of lib/ files and langref to installation prefix. Useful for development") orelse only_c;
     const skip_install_langref = b.option(bool, "no-langref", "skip copying of langref to the installation prefix") orelse skip_install_lib_files;
     const std_docs = b.option(bool, "std-docs", "include standard library autodocs") orelse false;
     const no_bin = b.option(bool, "no-bin", "skip emitting compiler binary") orelse false;