diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
index 68255df4..7c1120f9 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
@@ -7,13 +7,11 @@
 #include <PngToBmpConverter.h>
 #include <ZipFile.h>
 
-#include "CrossPointSettings.h"
 #include "Epub/parsers/ContainerParser.h"
 #include "Epub/parsers/ContentOpfParser.h"
 #include "Epub/parsers/TocNavParser.h"
 #include "Epub/parsers/TocNcxParser.h"
 
-
 bool Epub::findContentOpfFile(std::string* contentOpfFile) const {
   const auto containerPath = "META-INF/container.xml";
   size_t containerSize;
@@ -770,7 +768,7 @@ BookMetadataCache::TocEntry Epub::getTocItem(const int tocIndex) const {
     return {};
   }
 
-  if (SETTINGS.syntheticTocFallback && !hasReliableToc()) {
+  if (syntheticTocFallbackEnabled && !hasReliableToc()) {
     const int spineCount = bookMetadataCache->getSpineCount();
     if (tocIndex < 0 || tocIndex >= spineCount) {
       LOG_DBG("EBP", "getTocItem synthetic index:%d is out of range", tocIndex);
@@ -795,7 +793,7 @@ int Epub::getTocItemsCount() const {
     return 0;
   }
 
-  if (SETTINGS.syntheticTocFallback && !hasReliableToc()) {
+  if (syntheticTocFallbackEnabled && !hasReliableToc()) {
     return bookMetadataCache->getSpineCount();
   }
 
@@ -809,7 +807,7 @@ int Epub::getSpineIndexForTocIndex(const int tocIndex) const {
     return 0;
   }
 
-  if (SETTINGS.syntheticTocFallback && !hasReliableToc()) {
+  if (syntheticTocFallbackEnabled && !hasReliableToc()) {
     if (tocIndex < 0 || tocIndex >= bookMetadataCache->getSpineCount()) {
       LOG_ERR("EBP", "getSpineIndexForTocIndex synthetic tocIndex %d out of range", tocIndex);
       return 0;
@@ -885,7 +883,7 @@ int Epub::getTocIndexForSpineIndex(const int spineIndex) const {
     return 0;
   }
 
-  if (SETTINGS.syntheticTocFallback && !hasReliableToc()) {
+  if (syntheticTocFallbackEnabled && !hasReliableToc()) {
     return spineIndex;
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub.h b/lib/Epub/Epub.h
index 943eaeb5..7ea0034a 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub.h
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub.h
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ class Epub {
   std::vector<std::string> cssFiles;
   // -1 unknown, 0 unreliable, 1 reliable
   mutable int tocReliabilityState = -1;
+  // Library-level option: app code can override this per-book instance.
+  bool syntheticTocFallbackEnabled = false;
 
   bool findContentOpfFile(std::string* contentOpfFile) const;
   bool parseContentOpf(BookMetadataCache::BookMetadata& bookMetadata);
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ class Epub {
   int getSpineIndexForTocIndex(int tocIndex) const;
   int getTocIndexForSpineIndex(int spineIndex) const;
   bool hasReliableToc() const;
+  void setSyntheticTocFallbackEnabled(bool enabled) { syntheticTocFallbackEnabled = enabled; }
   size_t getCumulativeSpineItemSize(int spineIndex) const;
   int getSpineIndexForTextReference() const;
 
diff --git a/src/activities/reader/ReaderActivity.cpp b/src/activities/reader/ReaderActivity.cpp
index 2164a7f6..6a62cb70 100644
--- a/src/activities/reader/ReaderActivity.cpp
+++ b/src/activities/reader/ReaderActivity.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<Epub> ReaderActivity::loadEpub(const std::string& path) {
   }
 
   auto epub = std::unique_ptr<Epub>(new Epub(path, "/.crosspoint"));
+  epub->setSyntheticTocFallbackEnabled(SETTINGS.syntheticTocFallback != 0);
   if (epub->load(true, SETTINGS.embeddedStyle == 0)) {
     return epub;
   }