diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index 69475a5..d75b235 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@
 	protected {
 		string m_generator;
 		bool m_rdmd = false;
+		bool m_tempBuild = false;
 		bool m_run = false;
 		bool m_force = false;
 		bool m_combined = false;
@@ -538,6 +539,7 @@
 		gensettings.runArgs = app_args;
 		gensettings.force = m_force;
 		gensettings.rdmd = m_rdmd;
+		gensettings.tempBuild = m_tempBuild;
 
 		logDiagnostic("Generating using %s", m_generator);
 		if (m_generator == "visuald-combined") {
@@ -567,6 +569,7 @@
 		args.getopt("rdmd", &m_rdmd, [
 			"Use rdmd instead of directly invoking the compiler"
 		]);
+
 		args.getopt("f|force", &m_force, [
 			"Forces a recompilation even if the target is up to date"
 		]);
@@ -594,6 +597,10 @@
 
 	override void prepare(scope CommandArgs args)
 	{
+		args.getopt("temp-build", &m_tempBuild, [
+			"Builds the project in the temp folder if possible."
+		]);
+
 		super.prepare(args);
 		m_run = true;
 	}
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/build.d b/source/dub/generators/build.d
index 00bc4e6..50b5972 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/build.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/build.d
@@ -125,8 +125,9 @@
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		if (!isWritableDir(target_path, true)) {
-			logInfo("Build directory %s is not writable. Falling back to direct build in the system's temp folder.", target_path.relativeTo(cwd).toNativeString());
+		if (settings.tempBuild || !isWritableDir(target_path, true)) {
+			if (!settings.tempBuild)
+				logInfo("Build directory %s is not writable. Falling back to direct build in the system's temp folder.", target_path.relativeTo(cwd).toNativeString());
 			performDirectBuild(settings, buildsettings, pack, config);
 			return false;
 		}
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@
 		Path exe_file_path;
 		bool tmp_target = false;
 		if (generate_binary) {
-			if (settings.run && !isWritableDir(Path(buildsettings.targetPath), true)) {
+			if (settings.tempBuild || (settings.run && !isWritableDir(Path(buildsettings.targetPath), true))) {
 				import std.random;
 				auto rnd = to!string(uniform(uint.min, uint.max)) ~ "-";
 				auto tmpdir = getTempDir()~".rdmd/source/";
@@ -242,7 +243,7 @@
 		Path exe_file_path;
 		bool is_temp_target = false;
 		if (generate_binary) {
-			if (settings.run && !isWritableDir(Path(buildsettings.targetPath), true)) {
+			if (settings.tempBuild || (settings.run && !isWritableDir(Path(buildsettings.targetPath), true))) {
 				import std.random;
 				auto rnd = to!string(uniform(uint.min, uint.max));
 				auto tmppath = getTempDir()~("dub/"~rnd~"/");
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/generator.d b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
index 0472796..723361c 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/generator.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@
 	bool combined; // compile all in one go instead of each dependency separately
 
 	// only used for generator "build"
-	bool run, force, direct, clean, rdmd;
+	bool run, force, direct, clean, rdmd, tempBuild;
 	string[] runArgs;
 	void delegate(int status, string output) compileCallback;
 	void delegate(int status, string output) linkCallback;