diff --git a/cmake/modules/CheckCompiler.cmake b/cmake/modules/CheckCompiler.cmake
index 71f628f7f6..56d64fee43 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/CheckCompiler.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/CheckCompiler.cmake
@@ -130,10 +130,10 @@ if(cxx17)
 endif()
 if(root7)
   if(cxx11)
-    message(STATUS "ROOT7 interfaces require >= cxx14 which is disabled. Switching OFF root7 option")
-    set(root7 OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    message(FATAL ERROR "ROOT 7 requires C++14 or higher")
+  elseif(NOT http)
+    set(http ON CACHE BOOL "(Enabled since it's needed by ROOT 7)" FORCE)
   endif()
-    set(http ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 endif()
 
 #---Check for libcxx option------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/cmake/modules/RootBuildOptions.cmake b/cmake/modules/RootBuildOptions.cmake
index f1e6237592..4406549367 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/RootBuildOptions.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/RootBuildOptions.cmake
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(qt5web OFF "Enable support for Qt5 web-based display (requires
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(r OFF "Enable support for R bindings (requires R, Rcpp, and RInside)")
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(rfio OFF "Enable support for RFIO (Remote File IO) for CASTOR")
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(roofit ON "Build RooFit advanced fitting package")
+ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(webui ON "Build Web-based UI components of ROOT (requires C++14 standard or higher)")
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(root7 OFF "Build ROOT 7 components of ROOT (requires C++14 standard or higher)")
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(rpath OFF "Link libraries with built-in RPATH (run-time search path)")
 ROOT_BUILD_OPTION(runtime_cxxmodules OFF "Enable runtime support for C++ modules")
@@ -317,6 +318,17 @@ endforeach()
 #---Apply root7 versus language------------------------------------------------------------------
 if(cxx14 OR cxx17 OR cxx14_defval OR cxx17_defval)
   set(root7_defvalue ON)
+else()
+  set(root7_defvalue OFF)
+  set(webui_defvalue OFF)
+endif()
+
+if(webui)
+  if(cxx11)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "WebUI requires C++14 or higher")
+  elseif(NOT http)
+    set(http ON CACHE BOOL "(Enabled since it's needed by webui)" FORCE)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 #---roottest option implies testing
diff --git a/cmake/modules/SearchInstalledSoftware.cmake b/cmake/modules/SearchInstalledSoftware.cmake
index 8273d5e382..7598ccaaeb 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/SearchInstalledSoftware.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/SearchInstalledSoftware.cmake
@@ -1599,14 +1599,16 @@ endif()
 
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-ExternalProject_Add(
-   OPENUI5
-   URL ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/net/http/openui5/openui5.tar.gz
-   URL_HASH SHA256=32e50e3e8808295c67ecb7561ea9cd9beb76dd934263170fbbd05ff59b6d501d
-   CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
-   BUILD_COMMAND ""
-   INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-   SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/etc/http/openui5dist)
+if(webui)
+  ExternalProject_Add(
+    OPENUI5
+    URL ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/net/http/openui5/openui5.tar.gz
+    URL_HASH SHA256=32e50e3e8808295c67ecb7561ea9cd9beb76dd934263170fbbd05ff59b6d501d
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
+    BUILD_COMMAND ""
+    INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+    SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/etc/http/openui5dist)
+endif()
 
 #---Report removed options---------------------------------------------------
 foreach(opt afs glite sapdb srp chirp ios)
diff --git a/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index 499c427180..38b73b29cd 100644
--- a/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ add_subdirectory(guihtml)
 add_subdirectory(recorder)
 add_subdirectory(sessionviewer)
 
-if(cxx14 OR cxx17 OR root7)
+if(webui)
    add_subdirectory(webdisplay)
    if(cefweb)
       add_subdirectory(cefdisplay)
@@ -15,11 +15,10 @@ if(cxx14 OR cxx17 OR root7)
       add_subdirectory(qt5webdisplay)
    endif()
    add_subdirectory(webgui6)
-endif()
-
-if(root7)
-  add_subdirectory(canvaspainter)
-  add_subdirectory(fitpanelv7)
+   if(root7)
+     add_subdirectory(canvaspainter)
+     add_subdirectory(fitpanelv7)
+   endif()
 endif()
 if(qtgsi)
   add_subdirectory(qtgsi)