diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 73995fd..780794d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@
           ],
           "description": "Specify the list of options used for running benchmarks. --benchmark is implicit."
         },
+        "mesonbuild.modifySettings": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "default": true,
+          "description": "Automatically setup other extensions to use files generated by Meson. Disable this if for example .vscode/settings.json is committed into git and should not be modified."
+        },
         "mesonbuild.mesonPath": {
           "type": "string",
           "default": "meson",
diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index c0a054f..db6f950 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -134,21 +134,17 @@ export async function activate(ctx: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
 
   const compileCommandsFile = `${buildDir}/compile_commands.json`;
   whenFileExists(ctx, compileCommandsFile, async () => {
-    try {
+    if (extensionConfiguration(SettingsKey.modifySettings)) {
       const conf = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("C_Cpp");
       conf.update("default.compileCommands", compileCommandsFile, vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace);
-    } catch {
-      // Ignore, C/C++ extension might not be installed
     }
   });
 
   const rustProjectFile = `${buildDir}/rust-project.json`;
   whenFileExists(ctx, rustProjectFile, async () => {
-    try {
+    if (extensionConfiguration(SettingsKey.modifySettings)) {
       const conf = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("rust-analyzer");
       conf.update("linkedProjects", [rustProjectFile], vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace);
-    } catch {
-      // Ignore, rust-analyzer extension might not be installed
     }
   });
 
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index ddff3c1..5f0c8d3 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export interface ExtensionConfiguration {
   languageServerPath: string;
   downloadLanguageServer: boolean | "ask";
   selectRootDir: boolean;
+  modifySettings: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface TaskQuickPickItem extends vscode.QuickPickItem {
@@ -131,4 +132,5 @@ export enum SettingsKey {
   languageServer = "languageServer",
   configureOnOpen = "configureOnOpen",
   selectRootDir = "selectRootDir",
+  modifySettings = "modifySettings",
 }