diff --git a/Makefile.config.in b/Makefile.config.in
index 6d06f16b3575..e3bd2a207a50 100644
--- a/Makefile.config.in
+++ b/Makefile.config.in
@@ -258,6 +258,11 @@ ENABLE_WERROR = @ENABLE_WERROR@
 #DEBUG_SYMBOLS = 1
 @DEBUG_SYMBOLS@
 
+# When KEEP_SYMBOLS is enabled, installed executables will never have their
+# symbols stripped.
+#KEEP_SYMBOLS = 1
+@KEEP_SYMBOLS@
+
 # The compiler flags to use for optimized builds.
 OPTIMIZE_OPTION := @OPTIMIZE_OPTION@
 
diff --git a/autoconf/configure.ac b/autoconf/configure.ac
index 4dde3a6dfa39..7fa883e9cc50 100644
--- a/autoconf/configure.ac
+++ b/autoconf/configure.ac
@@ -542,6 +542,15 @@ else
   AC_SUBST(DEBUG_SYMBOLS,[[DEBUG_SYMBOLS=1]])
 fi
 
+dnl --enable-keep-symbols : do not strip installed executables
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(keep-symbols,
+   AS_HELP_STRING(--enable-keep-symbols,[Do not strip installed executables)]),,enableval=no)
+if test ${enableval} = "no" ; then
+  AC_SUBST(KEEP_SYMBOLS,[[]])
+else
+  AC_SUBST(KEEP_SYMBOLS,[[KEEP_SYMBOLS=1]])
+fi
+
 dnl --enable-jit: check whether they want to enable the jit
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(jit,
   AS_HELP_STRING(--enable-jit,