diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4-dbg/build.xml b/xwords4/android/XWords4-dbg/build.xml
index 67cca737f..dfc0150f1 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4-dbg/build.xml
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4-dbg/build.xml
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
     <property name="INITIAL_CLIENT_VERS" value="8"/>
     <property name="VARIANT_NAME" value="xw4dbg"/>
     <property name="APP_NAME" value="CrossDbg"/>
+    <property name="WIDIR_ENABLED" value="true" />
 
     <target name="-pre-clean">
         <antcall target="my-pre-clean" />
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/build.xml b/xwords4/android/XWords4/build.xml
index d04aea9f4..f1ce52211 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/build.xml
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/build.xml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     <property name="VARIANT_NAME" value="xw4"/>
     <property name="APP_NAME" value="Crosswords"/>
     <property name="SKIP_LANGS" value="values-de"/>
+    <property name="WIDIR_ENABLED" value="false" />
 
     <target name="-pre-clean">
         <antcall target="my-pre-clean" />
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/WiDirService.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/WiDirService.java
index c15a1469f..ba882029d 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/WiDirService.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/WiDirService.java
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
     private static final String MAC_ADDR_KEY = "p2p_mac_addr";
     private static final String SERVICE_NAME = "srvc_" + BuildConstants.VARIANT;
     private static final String SERVICE_REG_TYPE = "_presence._tcp";
-    private static final boolean WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED = true;
     private static final int OWNER_PORT = 5432;
 
     private enum P2PAction { _NONE,
@@ -138,7 +137,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
     {
         int result;
 
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED && null != intent ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED && null != intent ) {
             result = Service.START_STICKY;
 
             int ordinal = intent.getIntExtra( KEY_CMD, -1 );
@@ -205,7 +204,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
     public static boolean supported()
     {
-        return WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED;
+        return BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED;
     }
 
     public static boolean connecting() {
@@ -216,7 +215,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
     public static String getMyMacAddress( Context context )
     {
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED ) {
             if ( null == sMacAddress && null != context ) {
                 sMacAddress = DBUtils.getStringFor( context, MAC_ADDR_KEY, null );
             }
@@ -305,7 +304,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
     public static void activityResumed( Activity activity )
     {
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED && sHavePermission ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED && sHavePermission ) {
             if ( initListeners( activity ) ) {
                 activity.registerReceiver( sReceiver, sIntentFilter );
                 DbgUtils.logd( TAG, "activityResumed() done" );
@@ -316,7 +315,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
     public static void activityPaused( Activity activity )
     {
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED && sHavePermission ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED && sHavePermission ) {
             Assert.assertNotNull( sReceiver );
             // No idea why I'm seeing this exception...
             try {
@@ -345,7 +344,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
     private static boolean initListeners( final Context context )
     {
         boolean succeeded = false;
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED ) {
             if ( null == sIface ) {
                 try {
                     WifiP2pManager mgr = getMgr();
@@ -593,7 +592,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
     private static void setDiscoveryListeners( WifiP2pManager mgr )
     {
-        if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED ) {
+        if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED ) {
             DnsSdServiceResponseListener srl = new DnsSdServiceResponseListener() {
                     @Override
                     public void onDnsSdServiceAvailable(String instanceName,
@@ -1024,7 +1023,7 @@ public class WiDirService extends XWService {
 
         @Override
         public void onReceive( Context context, Intent intent ) {
-            if ( WIFI_DIRECT_ENABLED ) {
+            if ( BuildConstants.WIDIR_ENABLED ) {
                 String action = intent.getAction();
                 DbgUtils.logd( TAG, "got intent: " + intent.toString() );
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml b/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
index 5a497dc4d..38e0cf3c4 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
+++ b/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@
           <arg value="${INITIAL_CLIENT_VERS}" />
           <arg value="--vers-outfile" />
           <arg value="./assets/gitvers.txt" />
+          <arg value="--widir-enabled" />
+          <arg value="${WIDIR_ENABLED}" />
         </exec>
     </target>
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh b/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
index 1950e0461..99b2c40ad 100755
--- a/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
+++ b/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
@@ -8,10 +8,13 @@ VARIANT=""
 CLIENT_VERS_RELAY=""
 GCM_SENDER_ID=${GCM_SENDER_ID:-""}
 CRITTERCISM_APP_ID=${CRITTERCISM_APP_ID:-""}
+WIDIR_ENABLED=false
 
 usage() {
     echo "usage: $0 --variant <variant> --client-vers <relay_vers> \\"
 	echo "   [--vers-outfile path/to/versout.txt]"
+	echo "   [--widir-enabled true|false]"
+
     exit 1
 }
 
@@ -30,6 +33,10 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
 			OUT_PATH=$2
 			shift
 			;;
+		--widir-enabled)
+			WIDIR_ENABLED=$2
+			shift
+			;;
 		*)
 			usage
 			;;
@@ -113,6 +120,7 @@ public class BuildConstants {
     public static final String VARIANT = "$VARIANT";
     public static final String GCM_SENDER_ID = "${GCM_SENDER_ID}";
     public static final String CRITTERCISM_APP_ID  = "${CRITTERCISM_APP_ID}";
+    public static final boolean WIDIR_ENABLED = ${WIDIR_ENABLED};
 }
 EOF