diff --git a/Configure.pl b/Configure.pl
index 4941a40..b91afa3 100644
--- a/Configure.pl
+++ b/Configure.pl
@@ -407,6 +407,11 @@ E.g.
 Use this option if you want imcc's parser and lexer files to be generated.
 Needs a working parser and lexer.
 
+=item C<--with-llvm>
+
+Use this option if you have a recent version of LLVM installed and wish Parrot
+to link to it.
+
 =back
 
 =head1 CONFIGURATION-FILE INTERFACE
diff --git a/config/auto/llvm.pm b/config/auto/llvm.pm
index f47b972..f2a2bcf 100644
--- a/config/auto/llvm.pm
+++ b/config/auto/llvm.pm
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ config/auto/llvm - Check whether the Low Level Virtual Machine is present
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
 Determines whether the Low Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) is installed and
-functional on the system.  It is OK when it doesn't exist.
+functional on the system.  It is okay when it is not present.  When a
+sufficiently up-to-date version of LLVM is present, you will need to
+specify C<--with-llvm> as an option to C<perl Configure.pl> in order to tell
+Parrot to link to LLVM, I<i.e.,> building without LLVM is Parrot's default
+setting.
 
 =cut
 
@@ -30,7 +34,11 @@ sub runstep {
     my ( $self, $conf ) = @_;
 
     my $verbose = $conf->options->get( 'verbose' );
-    my $llvm_config = $conf->options->get( 'llvm-config' ) || 'llvm-config';
+    unless ( $conf->options->get( 'with-llvm' ) ) {
+        $self->_handle_result( $conf, 0 );
+        print "LLVM not requested\n" if $verbose;
+        return 1;
+    }
 
     # We will run various probes for LLVM.  If the probes are unsuccessful, we
     # will set_result to 'no', set 'has_llvm' to '', then return from
diff --git a/lib/Parrot/Configure/Options/Conf/Shared.pm b/lib/Parrot/Configure/Options/Conf/Shared.pm
index 7874ef4..3744a6d 100644
--- a/lib/Parrot/Configure/Options/Conf/Shared.pm
+++ b/lib/Parrot/Configure/Options/Conf/Shared.pm
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ our @shared_valid_options = qw{
     verbose
     verbose-step
     version
+    with-llvm
     without-crypto
     without-core-nci-thunks
     without-extra-nci-thunks
diff --git a/t/steps/auto/llvm-01.t b/t/steps/auto/llvm-01.t
index f5e028c..f1fb0b6 100644
--- a/t/steps/auto/llvm-01.t
+++ b/t/steps/auto/llvm-01.t
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use File::Temp qw( tempdir );
-use Test::More tests =>  48;
+use Test::More tests =>  56;
 use Carp;
 use lib qw( lib t/configure/testlib );
 use_ok('config::auto::llvm');
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ $conf->options->set( %{$args} );
 my $step = test_step_constructor_and_description($conf);
 my $ret = $step->runstep($conf);
 ok( $ret, "runstep() returned true value" );
-like( $step->result(), qr/yes|no/,
-  "Result was either 'yes' or 'no'" );
+like( $step->result(), qr/no/,
+  "LLVM not requested; hence result is 'no'" );
+ok( ! $conf->data->get( 'has_llvm' ),
+    "'has_llvm' set to false value, as expected" );
 
 $conf->replenish($serialized);
 
-########## --verbose ##########
-
 ($args, $step_list_ref) = process_options( {
     argv => [ q{--verbose} ],
     mode => q{configure},
@@ -58,6 +58,31 @@ $step = test_step_constructor_and_description($conf);
         \$stdout
     );
     ok( $ret, "runstep() returned true value" );
+    like( $step->result(), qr/no/,
+      "LLVM not requested; hence result is 'no'" );
+    ok( ! $conf->data->get( 'has_llvm' ),
+        "'has_llvm' set to false value, as expected" );
+    like( $stdout, qr/LLVM not requested/s,
+        "LLVM not requested; got expected verbose output" );
+}
+
+########### --verbose ##########
+
+($args, $step_list_ref) = process_options( {
+    argv => [ q{--verbose}, q{--with-llvm} ],
+    mode => q{configure},
+} );
+
+$conf->add_steps($pkg);
+$conf->options->set( %{$args} );
+$step = test_step_constructor_and_description($conf);
+{
+    my $stdout;
+    my $ret = capture(
+        sub { $step->runstep($conf) },
+        \$stdout
+    );
+    ok( $ret, "runstep() returned true value" );
     like( $step->result(), qr/yes|no/,
         "Result was either 'yes' or 'no'" );
     SKIP: {