diff --git a/build/pkgs/giac/spkg-configure.m4 b/build/pkgs/giac/spkg-configure.m4
index 53e3a8301cd..0c22692a1a1 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/giac/spkg-configure.m4
+++ b/build/pkgs/giac/spkg-configure.m4
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ SAGE_SPKG_CONFIGURE([giac], [
         AC_SEARCH_LIBS([ConvertUTF16toUTF8], [giac], [
         ], [sage_spkg_install_giac=yes])
        ], [sage_spkg_install_giac=yes])
+       AC_SUBST(SAGE_ENABLE_giac)
        m4_popdef([GIAC_MIN_VERSION])
        m4_popdef([GIAC_MAX_VERSION])
     ])
diff --git a/build/pkgs/giac/type b/build/pkgs/giac/type
index a6a7b9cd726..134d9bc32d5 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/giac/type
+++ b/build/pkgs/giac/type
@@ -1 +1 @@
-standard
+optional
diff --git a/pkgs/sage-conf/_sage_conf/_conf.py.in b/pkgs/sage-conf/_sage_conf/_conf.py.in
index 54a59fdbacf..c14dc14c197 100644
--- a/pkgs/sage-conf/_sage_conf/_conf.py.in
+++ b/pkgs/sage-conf/_sage_conf/_conf.py.in
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ SAGE_NAUTY_BINS_PREFIX = "@SAGE_NAUTY_BINS_PREFIX@"
 
 SAGE_ECMBIN = "@SAGE_ECMBIN@"
 
+SAGE_GIAC_ENABLED = "@SAGE_ENABLE_giac@"
+
 # Names or paths of the 4ti2 executables
 FOURTITWO_HILBERT = "@FOURTITWO_HILBERT@"
 FOURTITWO_MARKOV = "@FOURTITWO_MARKOV@"
diff --git a/src/sage/env.py b/src/sage/env.py
index 0f287145814..660e1aac0cf 100644
--- a/src/sage/env.py
+++ b/src/sage/env.py
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ def var(key: str, *fallbacks: Optional[str], force: bool = False) -> Optional[st
 KENZO_FAS = var("KENZO_FAS")
 SAGE_NAUTY_BINS_PREFIX = var("SAGE_NAUTY_BINS_PREFIX", "")
 SAGE_ECMBIN = var("SAGE_ECMBIN", "ecm")
+SAGE_GIAC_ENABLED = var("SAGE_GIAC_ENABLED", "yes")
 RUBIKS_BINS_PREFIX = var("RUBIKS_BINS_PREFIX", "")
 FOURTITWO_HILBERT = var("FOURTITWO_HILBERT")
 FOURTITWO_MARKOV = var("FOURTITWO_MARKOV")
diff --git a/src/sage/features/giac.py b/src/sage/features/giac.py
index 6f9fe2ccfba..cf86bad4360 100644
--- a/src/sage/features/giac.py
+++ b/src/sage/features/giac.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 # sage_setup: distribution = sagemath-environment
+# sage.doctest: optional - giac
 r"""
 Feature for testing the presence of ``giac``
 """
 
 from . import Executable, FeatureTestResult
+from sage.env import SAGE_GIAC_ENABLED
 
 class Giac(Executable):
     r"""
@@ -23,8 +25,12 @@ def __init__(self):
             sage: isinstance(Giac(), Giac)
             True
         """
-        Executable.__init__(self, 'giac', executable='giac',
-                            spkg='giac', type='standard')
+        if SAGE_GIAC_ENABLED == "no":
+            giac_exe = 'fofobar42barfoo'
+        else:
+            giac_exe = 'giac'
+        Executable.__init__(self, 'giac', executable=giac_exe,
+                            spkg='giac', type='optional')
 
 def all_features():
     return [Giac()]
diff --git a/src/sage/interfaces/giac.py b/src/sage/interfaces/giac.py
index 00c9ff429c3..10d0dadf177 100644
--- a/src/sage/interfaces/giac.py
+++ b/src/sage/interfaces/giac.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# sage.doctest: optional - giac
 r"""
 Pexpect Interface to Giac