diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 052ed826c..4ad067aea 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -26,6 +26,25 @@ dnl The install stuff has already been taken care of by the automake stuff
 dnl AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 
+dnl ************************************************************
+dnl lame option to switch on debug options
+dnl
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to enable debug options])
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
+[  --enable-debug		Enable pedantic debug options
+  --disable-debug		Disable debug options],
+[ case "$enableval" in
+  no)
+       AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+       ;;
+  *)   AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+
+    CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -DMALLOCDEBUG"
+    CFLAGS="-Wall -pedantic -g" 
+       ;;
+  esac ],
+       AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+)
 
 
 dnl