diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 55e79549..8ae859cb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ default values.
 
 ```
 usage: mfpymake [-h] [-fc {ifort,mpiifort,gfortran,none}] [-cc {gcc,clang,clang++,icc,icl,mpiicc,g++,cl,none}] [-ar {ia32,ia32_intel64,intel64}] [-mc] [-dbl] [-dbg] [-e] [-dr] [-sd] [-ff FFLAGS]
-                [-cf CFLAGS] [-sl {-lc,-lm}] [-mf] [-md] [-cs COMMONSRC] [-ef EXTRAFILES] [-exf EXCLUDEFILES] [-so] [-ad APPDIR] [-v] [--keep] [--zip ZIP] [--inplace] [--networkx] [--meson] [--mesondir]
+                [-cf CFLAGS] [-sl {-lc,-lm}] [-mf] [-md] [-cs COMMONSRC] [-ef EXTRAFILES] [-exf EXCLUDEFILES] [-so] [-ad APPDIR] [-v] [--keep] [--zip ZIP] [--inplace] [--networkx] [--meson | --no-meson] [--mesondir MESONDIR]
                 srcdir target
 
 This is the pymake program for compiling fortran, c, and c++ source
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ options:
   --zip ZIP             Zip built executable. (default is None)
   --inplace             Source files in srcdir are used directly. (default is False)
   --networkx            Use networkx package to build Directed Acyclic Graph use to determine the order source files are compiled in. (default is False)
-  --meson               Use meson to build executable. (default is False)
+  --meson, --no-meson   Use meson to build executable. Use --no-meson to build with the pymake build engine. (default is True)
   --mesondir            meson directory. (default is '.')
 
 Note that the source directory should not contain any bad 
diff --git a/autotest/test_build.py b/autotest/test_build.py
index 2b323805..9948ec06 100644
--- a/autotest/test_build.py
+++ b/autotest/test_build.py
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ def test_build(function_tmpdir, target: str) -> None:
         pm = pymake.Pymake(verbose=True)
         pm.target = target
         pm.inplace = True
+        # meson is the default, so the pymake build engine is asked for here
+        pm.meson = False
         fc = os.environ.get("FC", "gfortran")
         assert pymake.build_apps(target, pm, verbose=True, clean=False) == 0, (
             f"could not compile {target}"
diff --git a/docs/build_apps.md b/docs/build_apps.md
index a08b1b47..c8590ed0 100644
--- a/docs/build_apps.md
+++ b/docs/build_apps.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ and options can be determined by executing:
 $ make-program --help
 
 usage: make-program [-h] [--exclude EXCLUDE] [-fc {ifort,mpiifort,gfortran,none}] [-cc {gcc,clang,clang++,icc,icl,mpiicc,g++,cl,none}] [-dbl] [-dr] [-ff FFLAGS] [-cf CFLAGS] [-ad APPDIR] [-v] [--keep] [--zip ZIP]
-                    [--meson]
+                    [--meson | --no-meson]
                     targets
 
 Download and build USGS MODFLOW and related programs.
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ options:
   -v, --verbose         Verbose output to terminal. (default is False)
   --keep                Keep existing executable. (default is False)
   --zip ZIP             Zip built executable. (default is None)
-  --meson               Use meson to build executable. (default is False)
+  --meson, --no-meson   Use meson to build executable. Use --no-meson to
+                        build with the pymake build engine. (default is True)
 
 Examples:
 
diff --git a/docs/getting_started.md b/docs/getting_started.md
index 548a7893..7e4b131b 100644
--- a/docs/getting_started.md
+++ b/docs/getting_started.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ usage: mfpymake [-h] [-fc {ifort,mpiifort,gfortran,none}]
                 [-dr] [-sd] [-ff FFLAGS] [-cf CFLAGS] [-sl {-lc,-lm}] [-mf]
                 [-md] [-cs COMMONSRC] [-ef EXTRAFILES] [-exf EXCLUDEFILES]
                 [-so] [-ad APPDIR] [-v] [--keep] [--zip ZIP] [--inplace]
-                [--networkx] [--meson] [--mesondir]
+                [--networkx] [--meson | --no-meson] [--mesondir MESONDIR]
                 srcdir target
 
 This is the pymake program for compiling fortran, c, and c++ source
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ optional arguments:
   --networkx            Use networkx package to build Directed Acyclic Graph
                         use to determine the order source files are compiled
                         in. (default is False)
-  --meson               Use meson to build executable. (default is False)
+  --meson, --no-meson   Use meson to build executable. Use --no-meson to
+                        build with the pymake build engine. (default is True)
   --mesondir            meson directory. (default is '.')
 
 Note that the source directory should not contain any bad 
diff --git a/pymake/pymake_parser.py b/pymake/pymake_parser.py
index 42c1ce37..65378e9f 100644
--- a/pymake/pymake_parser.py
+++ b/pymake/pymake_parser.py
@@ -301,10 +301,11 @@ def _get_standard_arg_dict():
         },
         "meson": {
             "tag": ("--meson",),
-            "help": """Use meson to build executable. (default is False)""",
-            "default": False,
+            "help": """Use meson to build executable. Use --no-meson to build
+                         with the pymake build engine. (default is True)""",
+            "default": True,
             "choices": None,
-            "action": "store_true",
+            "action": argparse.BooleanOptionalAction,
         },
         "mesondir": {
             "tag": ("--mesondir",),