diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index bc668a4f2..5655fdcd8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -425,6 +425,10 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(memcached,
 
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -fno-strict-aliasing"
 
+if test "$COPT" != ""; then
+   CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $COPT"
+fi
+
 AC_SUBST(MEMCACHED_INCLUDE_OPT)
 AC_SUBST(MEMCACHED_LINK_OPT)
 AC_SUBST(MEMCACHED_RPATH_OPT)