diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 02d903571..d512c5cfd 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -63,63 +63,66 @@ AC_C_BIGENDIAN
 
 #### Warnings
 
+# Stay command-line compatible with the gnome-common configure option. Here
+# minimum/yes/maximum are the same, however.
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(compile_warnings,
+  AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-compile-warnings=@<:@no/minimum/yes/maximum/error@:>@],[Turn on compiler warnings]),,
+  enable_compile_warnings=error)
+
 changequote(,)dnl
-if test "x$GCC" = "xyes"; then
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wall[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wall" ;;
-  esac
-
-#  case " $CFLAGS " in
-#  *[\ \	]-Wshadow[\ \	]*) ;;
-#  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wshadow" ;;
-#  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wchar-subscripts[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wchar-subscripts" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wmissing-declarations[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wmissing-declarations" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wmissing-prototypes[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wmissing-prototypes" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wnested-externs[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wnested-externs" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wpointer-arith[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wpointer-arith" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wcast-align[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wcast-align" ;;
-  esac
-
-  case " $CFLAGS " in
-  *[\ \	]-Wsign-compare[\ \	]*) ;;
-  *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wsign-compare" ;;
-  esac
-
-  if test "x$enable_ansi" = "xyes"; then
+if test "$enable_compile_warnings" != no ; then
+  if test "x$GCC" = "xyes"; then
     case " $CFLAGS " in
-    *[\ \	]-ansi[\ \	]*) ;;
-    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -ansi" ;;
+    *[\ \	]-Wall[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wall" ;;
+    esac
+
+#   case " $CFLAGS " in
+#   *[\ \	]-Wshadow[\ \	]*) ;;
+#   *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wshadow" ;;
+#   esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wchar-subscripts[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wchar-subscripts" ;;
     esac
 
     case " $CFLAGS " in
-    *[\ \	]-pedantic[\ \	]*) ;;
-    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -pedantic" ;;
+    *[\ \	]-Wmissing-declarations[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wmissing-declarations" ;;
     esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wmissing-prototypes[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wmissing-prototypes" ;;
+    esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wnested-externs[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wnested-externs" ;;
+    esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wpointer-arith[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wpointer-arith" ;;
+    esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wcast-align[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wcast-align" ;;
+    esac
+
+    case " $CFLAGS " in
+    *[\ \	]-Wsign-compare[\ \	]*) ;;
+    *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wsign-compare" ;;
+    esac
+
+    if test "$enable_compile_warnings" = error; then
+      case " $CFLAGS " in
+      *[\ \	]-Werror[\ \	]*) ;;
+      *) CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Werror" ;;
+      esac
+    fi
   fi
 fi
 changequote([,])dnl
@@ -529,11 +532,6 @@ if test "x$enable_debug" = "xyes"; then
 	CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -g -O"
 fi
 
-# Warnings are there for a reason
-if test "x$GCC" = "xyes"; then
-  CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wall -Werror -ansi"
-fi
-
 # For fix-meta-rectangle.py
 AM_PATH_PYTHON([2.5])