diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e3b7c0da15a..6a07e0e3632 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign
 
 ZEND_DIR = $(srcdir)/libzend
-SUBDIRS = libzend ext sapi $(TSRM_DIR) $(REGEX_DIR) . pear
+SUBDIRS = libzend ext sapi $(TSRM_DIR) $(REGEX_DIR) . $(PEAR_DIR)
 
 BUILDLDFLAGS = $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 1ebc0050f41..fbfe83eb0aa 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -605,6 +605,21 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(low-memory,
 ])
 AC_MSG_RESULT($PHP_LOW_MEMORY)
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to install PEAR)
+AC_ARG_WITH(pear,
+[  --without-pear          Do not install PEAR],[
+  if test "$withval" = "yes"; then
+    PEAR_DIR=pear
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+  else
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+  fi
+],[
+  PEAR_DIR=pear
+  AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+])
+AC_SUBST(PEAR_DIR)
+
 PHP_SAPI=cgi
 PHP_BUILD_PROGRAM
 dnl paths to the targets relative to the build directory