--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -818,6 +818,7 @@
 AC_SUBST(PIE_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(PIE_LDFLAGS)
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(sse4_2,[  --enable-sse4_2         Support SSE4.2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.2) instructions],[
 WS_CFLAGS_saved="$WS_CFLAGS"
 AC_WIRESHARK_COMPILER_FLAGS_CHECK(-msse4.2, C)
 if test "x$can_add_to_cflags" = "xyes"
@@ -844,6 +845,10 @@
 		ac_sse4_2_flag=-xarch=sse4_2
 	fi
 fi
+],[
+AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+])
+
 WS_CFLAGS="$WS_CFLAGS_saved"
 
 if test "x$ac_sse4_2_flag" != x; then
