diff --git a/build.py b/build.py
index 7429b4dcba..039473b418 100755
--- a/build.py
+++ b/build.py
@@ -568,6 +568,10 @@ def ParseArguments():
   parser.add_argument( '--js-completer', action = 'store_true',
                        help = argparse.SUPPRESS )
 
+  parser.add_argument( '--regex', action = argparse.BooleanOptionalAction,
+                       default = True,
+                       help = 'Choose whether to build the regex module. '
+                              'Defaults to True.' )
   args = parser.parse_args()
 
   # coverage is not supported for c++ on MSVC
@@ -1301,9 +1305,13 @@ def DoCmakeBuilds( args ):
   BuildYcmdLib( cmake, cmake_common_args, args )
   WritePythonUsedDuringBuild()
 
-  BuildRegexModule( args )
   BuildWatchdogModule( args )
 
+  # NOTE: Keep BuildRegexModule() as the final step.
+  # If it fails, at least everything mandatory has been built.
+  if args.regex
+    BuildRegexModule( args )
+
 
 def PrintReRunMessage():
   print( '',