diff -rauN ibus/configure.ac ibus-novala-patch/configure.ac
--- ibus/configure.ac	2021-04-10 10:53:19.694774398 +0200
+++ ibus-novala-patch/configure.ac	2021-04-10 10:54:26.574743698 +0200
@@ -611,6 +611,18 @@
     enable_engine="yes (enabled, use --disable-engine to disable)"
 fi
 
+# --disable-tools
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(tools,
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-tools],
+                   [Disable tools]),
+    [enable_tools=$enableval],
+    [enable_tools=yes]
+)
+AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_TOOLS], [test x"$enable_tools" = x"yes"])
+if test x"$enable_tools" = x"yes"; then
+    enable_tools="yes (enabled, use --disable-tools to disable)"
+fi
+
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(XTEST,
     [x11 xtst],
     [enable_xtest=yes],
@@ -833,6 +845,7 @@
   Build document                $enable_gtk_doc
   Build UI                      $enable_ui
   Build engine                  $enable_engine
+  Build tools                   $enable_tools
   Enable key snooper            $enable_key_snooper
   No snooper regexes            "$NO_SNOOPER_APPS"
   Panel icon                    "$IBUS_ICON_KEYBOARD"
diff -rauN ibus/Makefile.am ibus-novala-patch/Makefile.am
--- ibus/Makefile.am	2021-04-10 10:53:19.688107734 +0200
+++ ibus-novala-patch/Makefile.am	2021-04-10 10:54:21.234746577 +0200
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
 ENGINE_DIR = engine
 endif
 
+if ENABLE_TOOLS
+TOOLS_DIR = tools
+endif
+
 if ENABLE_SETUP
 SETUP_DIR = setup
 endif
@@ -58,7 +62,7 @@
 	docs \
 	$(ENGINE_DIR) \
 	$(UI_DIR) \
-	tools \
+	$(TOOLS_DIR) \
 	$(DAEMON_DIR) \
 	$(PYTHON_LIB_DIRS) \
 	$(SETUP_DIR) \