diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c2980ba5cbb958dbb73a7a0b44480090668f04e2..30a702752b32a068346694e8401bc10198c9268a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ install(FILES ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/caosdbConfigVersion.cmake
 ### code formatting with clang-format
 #######################################################
 option(AUTOFORMATTING "call clang-format at configure time" ON)
-if(AUTOFORMATTING)
+if(AUTOFORMATTING AND NOT SKIP_LINTING)
     file(GLOB format_test_sources test/*.cpp test/*.h test/*.h.in)
     execute_process(COMMAND clang-format -i --verbose ${libcaosdb_INCL}
         ${libcaosdb_SRC} ${libcaosdb_TEST_SRC}