diff --git a/QGCExternalLibs.pri b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
index f84270118e252f6b2778a723e159e4bb67a5f070..619054220599dc223b2c73ec009c1ffc6f6e85b5 100644
--- a/QGCExternalLibs.pri
+++ b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
@@ -454,41 +454,46 @@ contains(DEFINES, DISABLE_3DMOUSE) {
 }
 
 #
-# Opal RT-LAB Library
+# [OPTIONAL] Opal RT-LAB Library. Provides integration with Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulator.
 #
+contains(DEFINES, DISABLE_RTLAB) {
+	message("Skipping support for RT-LAB (manual override)")
+} else:WindowsBuild {
+	exists(src/lib/opalrt/OpalApi.h) : exists(C:/OPAL-RT/RT-LAB7.2.4/Common/bin) {
+		message("Including support for Opal-RT")
 
-WindowsBuild : win32 : exists(src/lib/opalrt/OpalApi.h) : exists(C:/OPAL-RT/RT-LAB7.2.4/Common/bin) {
-    message("Including support for Opal-RT")
-
-    DEFINES += OPAL_RT
+		DEFINES += OPAL_RT
 
-    INCLUDEPATH += 
-        src/lib/opalrt
-        libs/lib/opal/include \
+		INCLUDEPATH +=
+			src/lib/opalrt
+			libs/lib/opal/include \
 
-    FORMS += src/ui/OpalLinkSettings.ui
+		FORMS += src/ui/OpalLinkSettings.ui
 
-    HEADERS += \
-        src/comm/OpalRT.h \
-        src/comm/OpalLink.h \
-        src/comm/Parameter.h \
-        src/comm/QGCParamID.h \
-        src/comm/ParameterList.h \
-        src/ui/OpalLinkConfigurationWindow.h
+		HEADERS += \
+			src/comm/OpalRT.h \
+			src/comm/OpalLink.h \
+			src/comm/Parameter.h \
+			src/comm/QGCParamID.h \
+			src/comm/ParameterList.h \
+			src/ui/OpalLinkConfigurationWindow.h
 
-    SOURCES += \
-        src/comm/OpalRT.cc \
-        src/comm/OpalLink.cc \
-        src/comm/Parameter.cc \
-        src/comm/QGCParamID.cc \
-        src/comm/ParameterList.cc \
-        src/ui/OpalLinkConfigurationWindow.cc
+		SOURCES += \
+			src/comm/OpalRT.cc \
+			src/comm/OpalLink.cc \
+			src/comm/Parameter.cc \
+			src/comm/QGCParamID.cc \
+			src/comm/ParameterList.cc \
+			src/ui/OpalLinkConfigurationWindow.cc
 
-    LIBS += \
-        -LC:/OPAL-RT/RT-LAB7.2.4/Common/bin \
-        -lOpalApi
+		LIBS += \
+			-LC:/OPAL-RT/RT-LAB7.2.4/Common/bin \
+			-lOpalApi
+	} else {
+		warning("Skipping support for RT-LAB (missing libraries, see README)")
+	}
 } else {
-    message("Skipping support for Opal-RT")
+    message("Skipping support for RT-LAB (unsupported platform)")
 }
 
 #
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f59a66854c047efba4d76ba8ee0991ab0ab40b65..e3acb9e3784387958f0a5bdb439fc8d71c35fc46 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ An add-on is available for QGC that provides a UI for generating MAVLink dialect
 
 This is not built by default as it is deprecated functionality that will removed in a forthcoming version of QGC. You can enable it by specifying the ENABLE_MAVGEN constant as an argument to qmake like `qmake DEFINES=ENABLE_MAVGEN`.
 
+### Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulator
+Integration with Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulator can be enabled on Windows by installing RT-LAB 7.2.4. Thallows vehicles to be simulated in RT-LAB and communicate directly with QGC on the same computer as if the UAS was actually deployed.
+
+This support is enabled by default once the requisite RT-LAB software is installed. Disabling this can be done by defining DISABLE_RTLAB when running qmake.
+
 ### Speech syntehsis
 QGroundcontrol can notify the controller of information via speech synthesis on the Mac and Linux platforms. This requires the `flite` library on Linux while on Mac text-to-speech support is built in starting with OS 10.6+ (Snow Leopard). This support is enabled by default on all platforms if the dependencies are met. Disabling this functionality can be done by adding the `DISABLE_SPEECH` define when running `qmake` like: `qmake DEFINES=DISABLE_SPEECH`. Note that multiple defines can be specified like this: `qmake DEFINES="DISABLE_QUPGRADE DISABLE_SPEECH"`.