diff -rupN Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/meson.build Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/meson.build
--- Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/meson.build	2023-01-13 14:55:15.952336174 +0200
+++ Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/meson.build	2023-01-13 15:31:30.711763130 +0200
@@ -28,8 +28,14 @@ viewnior_deps = [
   dependency('gio-2.0', version: glib_ver),
   dependency('shared-mime-info', version: '>= 0.20'),
   dependency('gdk-pixbuf-2.0', version: '>= 0.21'),
-  dependency('exiv2', version: '>= 0.21'),
 ]
+
+exiv2 = dependency('exiv2', version: '>= 0.21', required: false)
+if exiv2.found()
+  viewnior_deps += exiv2
+else
+  viewnior_deps += cc.find_library('m')
+endif
 #
 
 # Configuration
@@ -42,6 +48,7 @@ conf.set_quoted('PACKAGE_STRING', 'viewn
 conf.set_quoted('GETTEXT_PACKAGE', 'viewnior')
 conf.set_quoted('PACKAGE_DATA_DIR', join_paths(get_option('prefix'), get_option('datadir')))
 conf.set_quoted('PACKAGE_LOCALE_DIR', join_paths(get_option('prefix'), get_option('datadir'), 'locale'))
+conf.set('HAVE_EXIV2', exiv2.found())
 
 configure_file(output: 'config.h', configuration: conf)
 #
diff -rupN Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/meson.build Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/meson.build
--- Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/meson.build	2023-01-13 14:55:15.956336191 +0200
+++ Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/meson.build	2023-01-13 15:31:30.711763130 +0200
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@ viewnior_sources = [
     'vnr-prefs.c',
     'vnr-crop.c',
     'vnr-tools.c',
-    'uni-exiv2.cpp',
 ]
 
+if exiv2.found()
+  viewnior_sources += 'uni-exiv2.cpp'
+endif
+
 marshal = 'uni-marshal'
 
 viewnior_sources += gnome.genmarshal(
diff -rupN Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/vnr-properties-dialog.c Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/vnr-properties-dialog.c
--- Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/vnr-properties-dialog.c	2023-01-13 14:55:15.956336191 +0200
+++ Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/vnr-properties-dialog.c	2023-01-13 15:31:30.711763130 +0200
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
 #include "vnr-properties-dialog.h"
 #include "vnr-file.h"
 #include "vnr-tools.h"
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
 #include "uni-exiv2.hpp"
+#endif
 
 G_DEFINE_TYPE (VnrPropertiesDialog, vnr_properties_dialog, GTK_TYPE_DIALOG);
 
@@ -317,6 +319,8 @@ vnr_properties_dialog_clear_metadata(Vnr
     g_list_free(children);
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
+
 static void
 vnr_cb_add_metadata(const char *label, const char *value, void *user_data) {
     VnrPropertiesDialog *dialog = VNR_PROPERTIES_DIALOG(user_data);
@@ -344,15 +348,19 @@ vnr_cb_add_metadata(const char *label, c
     gtk_widget_show(temp_label);
 }
 
+#endif
+
 static void
 vnr_properties_dialog_update_metadata(VnrPropertiesDialog *dialog)
 {
     vnr_properties_dialog_clear_metadata(dialog);
 
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
     uni_read_exiv2_map(
         VNR_FILE(dialog->vnr_win->file_list->data)->path,
         vnr_cb_add_metadata,
         (void*)dialog);
+#endif
 }
 
 void
diff -rupN Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/vnr-window.c Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/vnr-window.c
--- Viewnior-viewnior-1.8-orig/src/vnr-window.c	2023-01-13 14:55:15.956336191 +0200
+++ Viewnior-viewnior-1.8/src/vnr-window.c	2023-01-13 15:31:30.711763130 +0200
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@
 #include "vnr-message-area.h"
 #include "vnr-properties-dialog.h"
 #include "vnr-crop.h"
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
 #include "uni-exiv2.hpp"
+#endif
 #include "uni-utils.h"
 
 /* Timeout to hide the toolbar in fullscreen mode */
@@ -961,7 +963,9 @@ save_image_cb (GtkWidget *widget, VnrWin
         vnr_message_area_hide(VNR_MESSAGE_AREA(window->msg_area));
 
     /* Store exiv2 metadata to cache, so we can restore it afterwards */
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
     uni_read_exiv2_to_cache(VNR_FILE(window->file_list->data)->path);
+#endif
 
     if(g_strcmp0(window->writable_format_name, "jpeg" ) == 0)
     {
@@ -989,7 +993,9 @@ save_image_cb (GtkWidget *widget, VnrWin
                          VNR_FILE(window->file_list->data)->path,
                          window->writable_format_name, &error, NULL);
     }
+#ifdef HAVE_EXIV2
     uni_write_exiv2_from_cache(VNR_FILE(window->file_list->data)->path);
+#endif
 
     if(!window->cursor_is_hidden)
         gdk_window_set_cursor(gtk_widget_get_window(GTK_WIDGET(window)), gdk_cursor_new(GDK_LEFT_PTR));