diff --git a/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Configure.hs b/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Configure.hs
index 6c859c7bf..343a487f2 100644
--- a/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Configure.hs
+++ b/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Configure.hs
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ module Distribution.Simple.Configure (configure,
                                       getPackageDBContents,
                                       configCompiler, configCompilerAux,
                                       configCompilerEx, configCompilerAuxEx,
+                                      computeEffectiveProfiling,
                                       ccLdOptionsBuildInfo,
                                       checkForeignDeps,
                                       interpretPackageDbFlags,
@@ -1074,11 +1075,18 @@ configureCoverage verbosity cfg comp = do
            ++ "program coverage. Program coverage has been disabled.")
         return apply
 
--- | Select and apply profiling settings for the build based on the
--- 'ConfigFlags' and 'Compiler'.
-configureProfiling :: Verbosity -> ConfigFlags -> Compiler
-                   -> IO (LocalBuildInfo -> LocalBuildInfo)
-configureProfiling verbosity cfg comp = do
+-- | Compute the effective value of the profiling flags
+-- @--enable-library-profiling@ and @--enable-executable-profiling@
+-- from the specified 'ConfigFlags'.  This may be useful for
+-- external Cabal tools which need to interact with Setup in
+-- a backwards-compatible way: the most predictable mechanism
+-- for enabling profiling across many legacy versions is to
+-- NOT use @--enable-profiling@ and use those two flags instead.
+--
+-- Note that @--enable-executable-profiling@ also affects profiling
+-- of benchmarks and (non-detailed) test suites.
+computeEffectiveProfiling :: ConfigFlags -> (Bool {- lib -}, Bool {- exe -})
+computeEffectiveProfiling cfg =
   -- The --profiling flag sets the default for both libs and exes,
   -- but can be overidden by --library-profiling, or the old deprecated
   -- --executable-profiling flag.
@@ -1089,6 +1097,14 @@ configureProfiling verbosity cfg comp = do
                         (mappend (configProf cfg) (configProfExe cfg))
       tryLibProfiling = fromFlagOrDefault tryExeProfiling
                         (mappend (configProf cfg) (configProfLib cfg))
+  in (tryLibProfiling, tryExeProfiling)
+
+-- | Select and apply profiling settings for the build based on the
+-- 'ConfigFlags' and 'Compiler'.
+configureProfiling :: Verbosity -> ConfigFlags -> Compiler
+                   -> IO (LocalBuildInfo -> LocalBuildInfo)
+configureProfiling verbosity cfg comp = do
+  let (tryLibProfiling, tryExeProfiling) = computeEffectiveProfiling cfg
 
       tryExeProfileLevel = fromFlagOrDefault ProfDetailDefault
                            (configProfDetail cfg)
diff --git a/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs b/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
index 15fd59835..87dfadb4d 100644
--- a/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ import Distribution.Simple.Program (ProgramDb, defaultProgramDb)
 import Distribution.Simple.Command hiding (boolOpt, boolOpt')
 import qualified Distribution.Simple.Command as Command
 import Distribution.Simple.Configure
-       ( configCompilerAuxEx, interpretPackageDbFlags )
+       ( configCompilerAuxEx, interpretPackageDbFlags, computeEffectiveProfiling )
 import qualified Distribution.Simple.Setup as Cabal
 import Distribution.Simple.Setup
          ( ConfigFlags(..), BuildFlags(..), ReplFlags
@@ -393,21 +393,25 @@ filterConfigureFlags flags cabalLibVersion
       }
 
     -- Cabal < 1.23 doesn't know about '--profiling-detail'.
+    -- Cabal < 1.23 has a hacked up version of 'enable-profiling'
+    -- which we shouldn't use.
+    (tryLibProfiling, tryExeProfiling) = computeEffectiveProfiling flags
     flags_1_23_0 = flags_latest { configProfDetail    = NoFlag
                                 , configProfLibDetail = NoFlag
-                                , configIPID          = NoFlag }
+                                , configIPID          = NoFlag
+                                , configProf = mempty
+                                , configProfExe = Flag tryExeProfiling
+                                , configProfLib = Flag tryLibProfiling
+                                }
 
     -- Cabal < 1.22 doesn't know about '--disable-debug-info'.
     flags_1_22_0 = flags_1_23_0 { configDebugInfo = NoFlag }
 
     -- Cabal < 1.21.1 doesn't know about 'disable-relocatable'
     -- Cabal < 1.21.1 doesn't know about 'enable-profiling'
+    -- (but we already dealt with it in flags_1_23_0)
     flags_1_21_1 =
       flags_1_22_0 { configRelocatable = NoFlag
-                   , configProf = NoFlag
-                   , configProfExe = configProf flags
-                   , configProfLib =
-                     mappend (configProf flags) (configProfLib flags)
                    , configCoverage = NoFlag
                    , configLibCoverage = configCoverage flags
                    }