diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 179ebf0bf4..9a05b2b0f1 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ test and debug from a git working tree.
 - `make` is typically sufficient to build zig during development iterations.
 - `make install` performs a build __and__ install.
 - `msbuild -p:Configuration=Release INSTALL.vcxproj` on Windows performs a
-build and install. To avoid install, pass cmake option `-DZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES=ON`.
+build and install. To avoid install, pass cmake option `-DZIG_NO_LIB=ON`.
 
 To test changes, do the following from the build directory:
 
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3be09c028e..943aae331a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,9 +81,15 @@ if("${ZIG_VERSION}" STREQUAL "")
 endif()
 message(STATUS "Configuring zig version ${ZIG_VERSION}")
 
-set(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES off CACHE BOOL
+set(ZIG_NO_LIB off CACHE BOOL
     "Disable copying lib/ files to install prefix during the build phase")
 
+set(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES off CACHE BOOL "Deprecated. Use ZIG_NO_LIB")
+if(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES)
+  message(WARNING "ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES is deprecated. Use ZIG_NO_LIB instead.")
+  set(ZIG_NO_LIB ON)
+endif()
+
 set(ZIG_STATIC off CACHE BOOL "Attempt to build a static zig executable (not compatible with glibc)")
 set(ZIG_SHARED_LLVM off CACHE BOOL "Prefer linking against shared LLVM libraries")
 set(ZIG_STATIC_LLVM off CACHE BOOL "Prefer linking against static LLVM libraries")
@@ -1004,10 +1010,10 @@ elseif("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "RelWithDebInfo")
 else()
   set(ZIG_RELEASE_ARG -Drelease -Dstrip)
 endif()
-if(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES)
-  set(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES_ARG "-Dskip-install-lib-files")
+if(ZIG_NO_LIB)
+  set(ZIG_NO_LIB_ARG "-Dno-lib")
 else()
-  set(ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES_ARG "-Dskip-install-lib-files=false")
+  set(ZIG_NO_LIB_ARG "")
 endif()
 if(ZIG_SINGLE_THREADED)
   set(ZIG_SINGLE_THREADED_ARG "-fsingle-threaded")
@@ -1080,7 +1086,7 @@ set(ZIG_BUILD_ARGS
     "-Denable-stage1"
     ${ZIG_RELEASE_ARG}
     ${ZIG_STATIC_ARG}
-    ${ZIG_SKIP_INSTALL_LIB_FILES_ARG}
+    ${ZIG_NO_LIB_ARG}
     ${ZIG_SINGLE_THREADED_ARG}
     "-Dtarget=${ZIG_TARGET_TRIPLE}"
     "-Dcpu=${ZIG_TARGET_MCPU}"
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index e439b9cb33..293621e545 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -61,7 +61,11 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) !void {
     const skip_stage1 = b.option(bool, "skip-stage1", "Main test suite skips stage1 compile error tests") orelse false;
     const skip_run_translated_c = b.option(bool, "skip-run-translated-c", "Main test suite skips run-translated-c tests") orelse false;
     const skip_stage2_tests = b.option(bool, "skip-stage2-tests", "Main test suite skips self-hosted compiler tests") orelse false;
-    const skip_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "skip-install-lib-files", "Do not copy lib/ files to installation prefix") orelse false;
+    const deprecated_skip_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "skip-install-lib-files", "deprecated. see no-lib") orelse false;
+    if (deprecated_skip_install_lib_files) {
+        std.log.warn("-Dskip-install-lib-files is deprecated in favor of -Dno-lib", .{});
+    }
+    const skip_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "no-lib", "skip copying of lib/ files to installation prefix. Useful for development") orelse deprecated_skip_install_lib_files;
 
     const only_install_lib_files = b.option(bool, "lib-files-only", "Only install library files") orelse false;