diff --git a/axiom/configure.ac b/axiom/configure.ac
index 09ba267..d3cdd1f 100644
--- a/axiom/configure.ac
+++ b/axiom/configure.ac
@@ -61,9 +61,22 @@
 
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then
-    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Werror -Wall -Wno-implicit-function-declaration "
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Wno-implicit-function-declaration "
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to set -Werror)
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror, [  --disable-werror  do not treat warnings as errors during build],
+[ case "${enableval}" in
+  no)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Werror"
+    ;;
+  esac ],
+)
+
 
 dnl Checks for header files.
 AC_HEADER_STDC
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e5a23fd..0d0a308 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then
-    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Werror -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -g -D_GNU_SOURCE"
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -g -D_GNU_SOURCE"
 fi
 
 dnl Checks for header files.
diff --git a/neethi/configure.ac b/neethi/configure.ac
index f6e1825..4f20d36 100644
--- a/neethi/configure.ac
+++ b/neethi/configure.ac
@@ -46,9 +46,22 @@
 
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then
-    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Werror -Wno-implicit-function-declaration "
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Wno-implicit-function-declaration "
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to set -Werror)
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror, [  --disable-werror        do not treat warnings as errors during build],
+[ case "${enableval}" in
+  no)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Werror"
+    ;;
+  esac ],
+)
+
 
 dnl Checks for header files.
 AC_HEADER_STDC
diff --git a/samples/configure.ac b/samples/configure.ac
index 0df3b0d..d61144c 100644
--- a/samples/configure.ac
+++ b/samples/configure.ac
@@ -62,9 +62,22 @@
 
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then
-       CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Werror -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -g -D_GNU_SOURCE"
+       CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Werror -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -g -D_GNU_SOURCE"
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to set -Werror)
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror, [  --disable-werror     do not treat warnings as errors during build],
+[ case "${enableval}" in
+  no)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Werror"
+    ;;
+  esac ],
+)
+
 dnl Checks for header files.
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stdio.h stdlib.h string.h])
diff --git a/util/configure.ac b/util/configure.ac
index 8789d03..1e7169e 100644
--- a/util/configure.ac
+++ b/util/configure.ac
@@ -68,9 +68,22 @@
 
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE"
 if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then
-    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Werror -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -D_GNU_SOURCE"
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi -Wall -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -D_GNU_SOURCE"
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to set -Werror)
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror, [  --disable-werror      do not treat warnings as errors during build],
+[ case "${enableval}" in
+  no)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+    CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Werror"
+    ;;
+  esac ],
+)
+
 dnl Checks for header files.
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stdio.h stdlib.h string.h])