diff --git a/.github/workflows/linux-fedora-qt6.yml b/.github/workflows/linux-fedora-qt6.yml
index dfc6f700d..0d0ab5417 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linux-fedora-qt6.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linux-fedora-qt6.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ jobs:
         git reset --hard
         cd ..
         ls -l . subsurface subsurface/scripts
-        bash -e -x subsurface/scripts/build.sh -desktop
+        bash -e -x subsurface/scripts/build.sh -desktop -build-with-qt6
 
     - name: test desktop build
       run: |
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3d5a8297f..b21347766 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ option(FTDISUPPORT "enable support for libftdi based serial" OFF)
 # Options regarding What should we build on subsurface
 option(MAKE_TESTS "Make the tests" ON)
 
+# Option whether we should try to build against Qt6, if it is available
+option(BUILD_WITH_QT6 "try to build against Qt6 (incomplete)" OFF)
+
 SET(SUBSURFACE_TARGET_EXECUTABLE "DesktopExecutable" CACHE STRING "The type of application, DesktopExecutable, MobileExecutable, or DownloaderExecutable")
 LIST(APPEND SUBSURFACE_ACCEPTED_EXECUTABLES  "DesktopExecutable" "MobileExecutable" "DownloaderExecutable")
 SET_PROPERTY(CACHE SUBSURFACE_TARGET_EXECUTABLE PROPERTY STRINGS ${SUBSURFACE_ACCEPTED_EXECUTABLES})
@@ -173,12 +176,19 @@ include_directories(.
 	${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/desktop-widgets
 )
 
+# decide what to do about Qt
+# this is messy because we want to support older Qt5 versions, newer Qt5 versions,
+# and Qt6 when enabled / available.
+if(BUILD_WITH_QT6)
+	set(CHECK_QT6 "Qt6")
+endif()
+
 # figure out which version of Qt we are building against
 # in theory this should get us all the variables set up correctly, but that
 # ended up failing in subtle ways to do what was advertized; in the Qt5 case
 # some of the variables didn't get set up, so we'll immediately call it again
 # for Qt5
-find_package(QT NAMES Qt6 Qt5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Core Widgets)
+find_package(QT NAMES ${CHECK_QT6} Qt5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Core Widgets)
 
 # right now there are a few things that don't work with Qt6
 # let's disable them right here and remember our Qt version
diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index 2240760da..2833fbe28 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -96,6 +96,14 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]] ; do
 			# is still available on Linux distros)
 			BUILD_WITH_WEBKIT="1"
 			;;
+		-build-with-qt6)
+			# Qt6 is not enabled by default as there are a few issues still with the port
+			# - by default the Qt6 packages don't include QtLocation, so no maps (see below)
+			# - WebKit doesn't work with Qt6, so no printing or in-app user manual
+			# - there are a few other random bugs that we still find here and there
+			# So by default we only try to build against Qt5. This overwrites that
+			BUILD_WITH_QT6="1"
+			;;
 		-build-with-map)
 			# Qt6 doesn't include QtLocation (as of Qt 6.3) - but you can build / install it from source.
 			# use this flag to force building googlemaps with Qt6
@@ -604,6 +612,9 @@ for (( i=0 ; i < ${#BUILDS[@]} ; i++ )) ; do
 	else
 		EXTRA_OPTS="-DNO_USERMANUAL=ON -DNO_PRINTING=ON"
 	fi
+	if [ "$BUILD_WITH_QT6" = "1" ] ; then
+		EXTRA_OPTS="$EXTRA_OPTS -DBUILD_WITH_QT6=ON"
+	fi
 
 	cd "$SRC"/${SRC_DIR}