diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 02731b5..43ff6c7 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ dependencies = [
   sfml_window, tracy
 ]
 
+# use this for common options only for our executables
+cpp_args=[ ]
+
 executable('runtests', [
   'dbc.cpp',
   'matrix.cpp',