diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 64f5a7ecb..55537b99b 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2006-05-23  David Shaw  <dshaw@jabberwocky.com>
+
+	* configure.ac: Add --disable-optimization.  This is handy for
+	debugging so the compiler doesn't rearrange things and eliminate
+	variables.
+
 2006-05-22  Marcus Brinkmann  <marcus@g10code.de>
 
 	* configure.ac: Remove check for noexecstack and invoke
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a6adfc26a..680414595 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1264,6 +1264,15 @@ if test "$GCC" = yes; then
         CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wall"
     fi
 
+    # This is handy for debugging so the compiler doesn't rearrange
+    # things and eliminate variables.
+    AC_ARG_ENABLE(optimization,
+       AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-optimization],
+		      [disable compiler optimization]),
+                      [if test $enableval = no ; then
+                         CFLAGS=`echo $CFLAGS | sed 's/-O[[0-9]]//'`
+                       fi])
+
     AC_MSG_CHECKING([if gcc supports -Wno-pointer-sign])
 
     _gcc_cflags_save=$CFLAGS