diff --git a/package/gpsd/Config.in b/package/gpsd/Config.in
index cbdcdb5725..92a124b8ac 100644
--- a/package/gpsd/Config.in
+++ b/package/gpsd/Config.in
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ menuconfig BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS
 	# Always tries to build a shared library
 	depends on !BR2_STATIC_LIBS
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_CLIENTS if !BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DAEMON \
+				       && !BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_PYTHON
 	help
 	  gpsd is a service daemon that monitors one or more GPSes or
 	  AIS receivers attached to a host computer through serial or
@@ -22,6 +24,15 @@ menuconfig BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD
 
 if BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD
 
+config BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DAEMON
+	bool "gpsd daemon"
+	default y # legacy
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_CLIENTS
+	help
+	  Build and install the gpsd daemon itself
+
+if BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DAEMON
+
 config BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DEVICES
 	string "Where to look for GPSes"
 	default "/dev/ttyS1"
@@ -210,6 +221,8 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_UBX
 	help
 	  uBlox UBX binary support
 
+endif  # GPSD_DAEMON
+
 config BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_CLIENTS
 	bool "gpsd clients"
 	default y # legacy
diff --git a/package/gpsd/gpsd.mk b/package/gpsd/gpsd.mk
index 77c6f6c562..8f87766dcc 100644
--- a/package/gpsd/gpsd.mk
+++ b/package/gpsd/gpsd.mk
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ GPSD_SCONS_OPTS = \
 	prefix=/usr \
 	sysroot=$(STAGING_DIR) \
 	strip=no \
-	qt=no \
-	systemd=$(if $(BR2_INIT_SYSTEMD),yes,no)
+	qt=no
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_NCURSES),y)
 GPSD_DEPENDENCIES += ncurses
@@ -178,6 +177,40 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_MAX_DEV),y)
 GPSD_SCONS_OPTS += max_devices=$(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_MAX_DEV_VALUE)
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DAEMON),y)
+GPSD_SCONS_OPTS += \
+	gpsd=yes \
+	systemd=$(if $(BR2_INIT_SYSTEMD),yes,no)
+
+GPSD_INSTALL_RULE = $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV),udev-install,install)
+
+# When using chrony, wait for after Buildroot's chrony.service
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_CHRONY),y)
+define GPSD_INSTALL_INIT_SYSTEMD
+	$(INSTALL) -D -m 0644 $(GPSD_PKGDIR)/br-chrony.conf \
+		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/systemd/system/gpsd.service.d/br-chrony.conf
+endef
+endif
+
+define GPSD_INSTALL_INIT_SYSV
+	$(INSTALL) -m 0755 -D package/gpsd/S50gpsd $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S50gpsd
+	$(SED) 's,^DEVICES=.*,DEVICES=$(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DEVICES),' $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S50gpsd
+endef
+
+# After the udev rule is installed, make it writable so that this
+# package can be re-built/re-installed.
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV),y)
+define GPSD_INSTALL_UDEV_RULES
+	chmod u+w $(TARGET_DIR)/lib/udev/rules.d/25-gpsd.rules
+endef
+GPSD_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += GPSD_INSTALL_UDEV_RULES
+endif
+
+else # GPSD_DAEMON
+GPSD_SCONS_OPTS += gpsd=no systemd=no
+GPSD_INSTALL_RULE = install
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_CLIENTS),y)
 GPSD_SCONS_OPTS += gpsdclients=yes
 else
@@ -211,22 +244,9 @@ define GPSD_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 		DESTDIR=$(TARGET_DIR) \
 		$(SCONS) \
 		$(GPSD_SCONS_OPTS) \
-		$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV),udev-install,install))
+		$(GPSD_INSTALL_RULE))
 endef
 
-define GPSD_INSTALL_INIT_SYSV
-	$(INSTALL) -m 0755 -D package/gpsd/S50gpsd $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S50gpsd
-	$(SED) 's,^DEVICES=.*,DEVICES=$(BR2_PACKAGE_GPSD_DEVICES),' $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S50gpsd
-endef
-
-# When using chrony, wait for after Buildroot's chrony.service
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_CHRONY),y)
-define GPSD_INSTALL_INIT_SYSTEMD
-	$(INSTALL) -D -m 0644 $(GPSD_PKGDIR)/br-chrony.conf \
-		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/systemd/system/gpsd.service.d/br-chrony.conf
-endef
-endif
-
 define GPSD_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
 	(cd $(@D); \
 		$(GPSD_SCONS_ENV) \
@@ -236,14 +256,4 @@ define GPSD_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
 		install)
 endef
 
-# After the udev rule is installed, make it writable so that this
-# package can be re-built/re-installed.
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV),y)
-define GPSD_INSTALL_UDEV_RULES
-	chmod u+w $(TARGET_DIR)/lib/udev/rules.d/25-gpsd.rules
-endef
-
-GPSD_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += GPSD_INSTALL_UDEV_RULES
-endif
-
 $(eval $(generic-package))