diff --git a/include/meson.build b/include/meson.build
index 33d65ff2..165166c3 100644
--- a/include/meson.build
+++ b/include/meson.build
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@ endif
 if not features.get('vulkan-renderer')
 	exclude_files += 'render/vulkan.h'
 endif
-if not features.get('color-management')
-	exclude_files += 'render/color.h'
-endif
 if not features.get('session')
 	exclude_files += 'backend/session.h'
 endif
diff --git a/render/color_fallback.c b/render/color_fallback.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72741c33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render/color_fallback.c
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#include <wlr/render/color.h>
+#include <wlr/util/log.h>
+
+struct wlr_color_transform *wlr_color_transform_init_linear_to_icc(
+		const void *data, size_t size) {
+	wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "Cannot create color transform from ICC profile: "
+		"LCMS2 is compile-time disabled");
+	return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/render/meson.build b/render/meson.build
index e3c5f535..f3e497dd 100644
--- a/render/meson.build
+++ b/render/meson.build
@@ -46,4 +46,6 @@ if lcms2.found()
 	wlr_deps += lcms2
 	wlr_files += files('color_lcms2.c')
 	features += { 'color-management': true }
+else
+	wlr_files += files('color_fallback.c')
 endif