diff --git a/src/configure b/src/configure
index 07f44037e..399331564 100755
--- a/src/configure
+++ b/src/configure
@@ -717,7 +717,6 @@ CORE_LIBS
 FASL_LIBS
 GMP_LDFLAGS
 GMP_CFLAGS
-DEBUG_CFLAGS
 ECL_CFLAGS
 buildir
 ecldir
@@ -798,6 +797,8 @@ enable_hpack
 enable_asmapply
 enable_smallcons
 enable_gengc
+with_debug_cflags
+with_profile_cflags
 with_x
 '
       ac_precious_vars='build_alias
@@ -1503,6 +1504,10 @@ Optional Packages:
                           allow for IEEE signed zeros (default=YES).
   --with-ieee-fp={yes|no} full IEEE floating point system, including denormals
                           (default=YES). Implies signed-zero and fpe
+  --with-debug-cflags     add debug flags to the compiler invocation
+                          (yes,no,actual flags,default=YES)
+  --with-profile-cflags   add profiling flags to the compiler invocation
+                          (yes,no,actual flags,default=NO)
   --with-x                use the X Window System
 
 Some influential environment variables:
@@ -2121,7 +2126,6 @@ else
 fi
 
 
-
 # Check whether --enable-opcode8 was given.
 if test "${enable_opcode8+set}" = set; then
   enableval=$enable_opcode8; opcode8=${enableval}
@@ -2321,6 +2325,25 @@ else
 fi
 
 
+
+
+# Check whether --with-debug-cflags was given.
+if test "${with_debug_cflags+set}" = set; then
+  withval=$with_debug_cflags;
+else
+  with_debug_cflags="no"
+fi
+
+
+
+# Check whether --with-profile-cflags was given.
+if test "${with_profile_cflags+set}" = set; then
+  withval=$with_profile_cflags;
+else
+  with_profile_cflags="no"
+fi
+
+
 ecldir="${libdir}/ecl-${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
 
 test -z "${docdir}" && docdir="${datadir}/doc/ecl-${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
@@ -2328,7 +2351,7 @@ test -z "${docdir}" && docdir="${datadir}/doc/ecl-${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
 
 boehm_configure_flags=""
 
-                            						                                                                                                                  TARGETS='bin/ecl$(EXE)'
+                            				                                                                                                                  TARGETS='bin/ecl$(EXE)'
 SUBDIRS=c
                             LSP_FEATURES='*features*'
 
@@ -4792,6 +4815,21 @@ if test "$ac_res" != no; then
 fi
 
 
+if test "$with_debug_cflags" = "yes"; then
+  with_debug_cflags="-g"
+fi
+if test "$with_debug_cflags" != "no"; then
+  CFLAGS="$with_debug_cflags $CFLAGS"
+  LDFLAGS="$with_debug_cflags $LDFLAGS"
+fi
+if test "$with_profile_cflags" = "yes"; then
+  with_profile_cflags="-pg"
+fi
+if test "$with_profile_cflags" != "no"; then
+  CFLAGS="$with_profile_cflags $CFLAGS"
+  LDFLAGS="$with_profile_cflags $LDFLAGS"
+fi
+
 if test "${enable_threads}" = "auto"; then
   { $as_echo "$as_me:$LINENO: checking for threads support" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking for threads support... " >&6; }
diff --git a/src/configure.in b/src/configure.in
index 9291fc84c..b9e436d79 100644
--- a/src/configure.in
+++ b/src/configure.in
@@ -100,12 +100,6 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(__thread,
                   [(supported by NPTL-aware glibc and maybe Windows)] ),
   [], [with___thread=auto])
 
-dnl AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
-dnl   AS_HELP_STRING( [--enable-debug],
-dnl                  [enable various debugging features]
-dnl                  [(default=NO)]),
-dnl  [DEBUG_CFLAGS="-g -O0"; CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -g -O0"],[])
-
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(opcode8,
   AS_HELP_STRING( [--enable-opcode8],
                   [interpreter uses 8-bit codes]
@@ -234,6 +228,24 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(gengc,
 		  [(no|yes, default=NO)]),
   [], [enable_gengc=no] )
 
+dnl AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
+dnl   AS_HELP_STRING( [--enable-debug],
+dnl                  [enable various debugging features]
+dnl                  [(default=NO)]),
+dnl  [DEBUG_CFLAGS="-g -O0"; CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -g -O0"],[])
+
+AC_ARG_WITH(debug-cflags,
+  AS_HELP_STRING( [--with-debug-cflags],
+                  [add debug flags to the compiler invocation]
+                  [(yes,no,actual flags,default=YES)]),
+  [],[with_debug_cflags="no"])
+
+AC_ARG_WITH(profile-cflags,
+  AS_HELP_STRING( [--with-profile-cflags],
+                  [add profiling flags to the compiler invocation]
+                  [(yes,no,actual flags,default=NO)]),
+  [],[with_profile_cflags="no"])
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl Installation directories
 ecldir="${libdir}/ecl-${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
@@ -248,7 +260,6 @@ boehm_configure_flags=""
 AC_EXEEXT dnl			Guess whether .exe is needed for executables
 AC_SUBST(buildir)               dnl For top-level Makefile.in
 AC_SUBST(ECL_CFLAGS)            dnl Similar, but specific to ECL (see src/util/ecl-config)
-AC_SUBST(DEBUG_CFLAGS)		dnl Additional flags when debugging
 AC_SUBST(GMP_CFLAGS)		dnl CFLAGS needed for compiling with system GMP library
 AC_SUBST(GMP_LDFLAGS)		dnl LDFLAGS needed for compiling with system GMP library
 AC_SUBST(FASL_LIBS)             dnl Libraries to link into all ecl code but not
@@ -310,6 +321,24 @@ LIBS="${LIBS} -lm"
 AC_CHECK_LIB(sun, getpwnam)         # on IRIX adds -lsun
 AC_ISC_POSIX
 
+dnl ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl Profiling & debug flags
+dnl
+if test "$with_debug_cflags" = "yes"; then
+  with_debug_cflags="-g"
+fi
+if test "$with_debug_cflags" != "no"; then
+  CFLAGS="$with_debug_cflags $CFLAGS"
+  LDFLAGS="$with_debug_cflags $LDFLAGS"
+fi
+if test "$with_profile_cflags" = "yes"; then
+  with_profile_cflags="-pg"
+fi
+if test "$with_profile_cflags" != "no"; then
+  CFLAGS="$with_profile_cflags $CFLAGS"
+  LDFLAGS="$with_profile_cflags $LDFLAGS"
+fi
+
 dnl ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl Native thread support
 if test "${enable_threads}" = "auto"; then