diff --git a/gdb/ChangeLog b/gdb/ChangeLog
index 6939600961..20da419daf 100644
--- a/gdb/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdb/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2010-09-22  Joel Brobecker  <brobecker@adacore.com>
+
+	* configure.ac: Add support for --enable-gdbserver.
+	* configure: Regenerate.
+
 2010-09-22  Sami Wagiaalla  <swagiaal@redhat.com>
 
 	PR C++/12028
diff --git a/gdb/configure b/gdb/configure
index 2c7db685a5..bee391d7c7 100755
--- a/gdb/configure
+++ b/gdb/configure
@@ -975,6 +975,7 @@ with_tk
 with_x
 enable_sim
 enable_multi_ice
+enable_gdbserver
 '
       ac_precious_vars='build_alias
 host_alias
@@ -1635,6 +1636,8 @@ Optional Features:
                           gcc is used
   --enable-sim            link gdb with simulator
   --enable-multi-ice      build the multi-ice-gdb-server
+  --enable-gdbserver      automatically build gdbserver (yes/no/auto, default
+                          is auto)
 
 Optional Packages:
   --with-PACKAGE[=ARG]    use PACKAGE [ARG=yes]
@@ -15816,8 +15819,20 @@ if test "x$enable_multi_ice" = xyes; then
 
 fi
 
-# We only build gdbserver automatically in a native configuration.
-if test "$gdb_native" = "yes"; then
+# Check whether --enable-gdbserver was given.
+if test "${enable_gdbserver+set}" = set; then :
+  enableval=$enable_gdbserver; case "${enableval}" in
+  yes| no|auto) ;;
+  *) as_fn_error "bad value ${enableval} for --enable-gdbserver option" "$LINENO" 5 ;;
+esac
+else
+  enable_gdbserver=auto
+fi
+
+
+# We only build gdbserver automatically in a native configuration, and
+# only if the user did not explicitly disable its build.
+if test "$gdb_native" = "yes" -a "$enable_gdbserver" != "no"; then
   { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking whether gdbserver is supported on this host" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking whether gdbserver is supported on this host... " >&6; }
   if test "x$build_gdbserver" = xyes; then
@@ -15825,12 +15840,19 @@ $as_echo_n "checking whether gdbserver is supported on this host... " >&6; }
 $as_echo "yes" >&6; }
     subdirs="$subdirs gdbserver"
 
+    gdbserver_build_enabled=yes
   else
     { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
 $as_echo "no" >&6; }
   fi
 fi
 
+# If the user explicitly request the gdbserver to be built, verify that
+# we were in fact able to enable it.
+if test "$enable_gdbserver" = "yes" -a "$gdbserver_build_enabled" != "yes"; then
+  as_fn_error "Automatic gdbserver build is not supported for this configuration" "$LINENO" 5
+fi
+
 # If nativefile (NAT_FILE) is not set in config/*/*.m[ht] files, we link
 # to an empty version.
 
diff --git a/gdb/configure.ac b/gdb/configure.ac
index 2f8090e512..e462274a09 100644
--- a/gdb/configure.ac
+++ b/gdb/configure.ac
@@ -2085,17 +2085,33 @@ if test "x$enable_multi_ice" = xyes; then
    AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(multi-ice)
 fi
 
-# We only build gdbserver automatically in a native configuration. 
-if test "$gdb_native" = "yes"; then
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(gdbserver,
+AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-gdbserver],
+               [automatically build gdbserver (yes/no/auto, default is auto)]),
+[case "${enableval}" in
+  yes| no|auto) ;;
+  *) AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-gdbserver option) ;;
+esac],[enable_gdbserver=auto])
+
+# We only build gdbserver automatically in a native configuration, and
+# only if the user did not explicitly disable its build.
+if test "$gdb_native" = "yes" -a "$enable_gdbserver" != "no"; then
   AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether gdbserver is supported on this host)
   if test "x$build_gdbserver" = xyes; then
     AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
     AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(gdbserver)
+    gdbserver_build_enabled=yes
   else
     AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
   fi
 fi
 
+# If the user explicitly request the gdbserver to be built, verify that
+# we were in fact able to enable it.
+if test "$enable_gdbserver" = "yes" -a "$gdbserver_build_enabled" != "yes"; then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR(Automatic gdbserver build is not supported for this configuration)
+fi
+
 # If nativefile (NAT_FILE) is not set in config/*/*.m[ht] files, we link
 # to an empty version.