diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 645ea60d..2c349167 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,8 +53,12 @@ endif()
 
 if(EMSCRIPTEN)
   option(MUJOCO_BUILD_TESTS_WASM "Build tests for WASM bindings" ON)
-  set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -pthread")
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++20 -O3 -pthread -fexceptions")
+  option(MUJOCO_WASM_THREADS "Build with multi-threading support" ON)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++20 -O3 -fexceptions")
+  if(MUJOCO_WASM_THREADS)
+    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -pthread")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -pthread")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 if(APPLE AND (MUJOCO_BUILD_EXAMPLES OR MUJOCO_BUILD_SIMULATE))
diff --git a/wasm/CMakeLists.txt b/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
index 08004839..80ed4feb 100644
--- a/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ if(NOT MUJOCO_WASM_FILES)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "No source files found in codegen/generated/")
 endif()
 
-option(MUJOCO_WASM_THREADS "Build with multi-threading support" ON)
-
 # Set Emscripten linker flags
 set(EMCC_LINKER_FLAGS
     "--bind"