diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f72ce988..81b20c4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 Sway is an incredible window manager, and certainly one of if the the most well established wayland window managers. However, it is restricted in its feature set to include only what i3 included. This fork expands sway's featureset to include the following:
 
-+ `Scratchpad treated as minimize`: Allows panels with a taskbar to correctly interpret the state of the window ([thanks to LCBCrion](https://github.com/swaywm/sway/issues/6457))
++ **Scratchpad treated as minimize**: Allows panels with a taskbar to correctly interpret the state of the window ([thanks to LCBCrion](https://github.com/swaywm/sway/issues/6457))
++ **Default to not compiling swaybar**: Many users replace swaybar with the far more capable [waybar](https://github.com/Alexays/Waybar), this repo cuts out the bloat by not including swaybar by default
 
 
 ## Roadmap:
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 6ba67554..6d2bbfe7 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ option('default-wallpaper', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Install
 option('zsh-completions', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Install zsh shell completions.')
 option('bash-completions', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Install bash shell completions.')
 option('fish-completions', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Install fish shell completions.')
-option('swaybar', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Enable support for swaybar')
+option('swaybar', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'Enable support for swaybar')
 option('swaynag', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Enable support for swaynag')
 option('xwayland', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable support for X11 applications')
 option('tray', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable support for swaybar tray')