diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 54b5356c4..2c93bb0a6 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -355,6 +355,18 @@ AH_TEMPLATE(C_MODEM,[Define to 1 to enable internal modem support, requires SDL_
 AH_TEMPLATE(C_IPX,[Define to 1 to enable IPX over Internet networking, requires SDL_net])
 AC_CHECK_HEADER(SDL_net.h,have_sdl_net_h=yes,)
 
+dnl enable disable sdl cdrom support
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(cdrom,
+AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-cdrom],[compile with SDL CD-ROM support (default yes)]),
+[ case "${enableval}" in
+ yes) sdl_cdrom=true;;
+ no)  sdl_cdrom=false;;
+esac],
+[sdl_cdrom=true])
+if test x$sdl_cdrom = xtrue ; then
+  AC_DEFINE(USE_SDL_CDROM,1,[Define to 1 to enable CDROM support])
+fi
+
 if test x$host = xi386-pc-os2-emx ; then
   AC_MSG_CHECKING(for SDLNet_Init in SDL_net);
   LIBS_BACKUP=$LIBS;
diff --git a/src/gui/sdlmain.cpp b/src/gui/sdlmain.cpp
index b5cdd3326..c63c27cdb 100644
--- a/src/gui/sdlmain.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/sdlmain.cpp
@@ -1772,8 +1772,10 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 #if SDL_VERSION_ATLEAST(1, 2, 14)
 	putenv(const_cast<char*>("SDL_DISABLE_LOCK_KEYS=1"));
 #endif
-	if ( SDL_Init( SDL_INIT_AUDIO|SDL_INIT_VIDEO|SDL_INIT_TIMER|SDL_INIT_CDROM
-		|SDL_INIT_NOPARACHUTE
+	if ( SDL_Init( SDL_INIT_AUDIO|SDL_INIT_VIDEO|SDL_INIT_TIMER|SDL_INIT_NOPARACHUTE
+#ifdef USE_SDL_CDROM
+		|SDL_CDROM
+#endif
 		) < 0 ) E_Exit("Can't init SDL %s",SDL_GetError());
 	sdl.inited = true;