diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index efa60cf4..7cf36ba0 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2008-09-15  Curtis Gedak  <gedakc@gmail.com>
+
+	* configure.in,
+	  Makefile.am: Added --disable-doc flag to prevent building help docs
+
+	* README: Added note about --disable-doc flag
+
 2008-09-13  Curtis Gedak  <gedakc@gmail.com>
 
 	* configure.in: Append -svn to version for continuing development
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 1f71dac4..cfd316e8 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-SUBDIRS = compose doc help include pixmaps po src
+### Do not execute make in the help subdirectory if DISABLE_DOC is set
+if DISABLE_DOC
+SUBDIRS = compose doc include pixmaps po src
+else
+SUBDIRS = help compose doc include pixmaps po src
+endif
 
 @INTLTOOL_DESKTOP_RULE@
 
diff --git a/README b/README
index e1d06ebb..5201cc8f 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ b. Building from Source
       parted
       gtkmm24
       gettext
+      gnome-doc-utils     - required if help documentation is to be built
 
    On (K)Ubuntu, these dependencies may be obtained by running the
    following command;
@@ -64,6 +65,12 @@ b. Building from Source
       yum install gtkmm24-devel parted-devel e2fsprogs-devel gettext \
                   perl(XML::Parser) desktop-file-utils
 
+   Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
+   configure, build, and install this package.  If you wish to build
+   this package without the help documentation use the --disable-doc
+   flag:
+      E.g., ./configure --disable doc
+ 
    The INSTALL file contains further GNU installation instructions.
 
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 5d1b3ae4..9577b26a 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ AC_PROG_CC
 AC_PROG_CXX
 AM_PROG_LIBTOOL
 
-GNOME_DOC_INIT
-
 
 dnl======================
 dnl checks for other programs 
@@ -84,6 +82,32 @@ AC_SUBST(GTKMM_LIBS)
 AC_SUBST(GTKMM_CFLAGS)
 
 
+dnl======================
+dnl check whether to build documentation - Gnome-Doc-Utils
+dnl======================
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(doc,
+  [  --disable-doc           do not build documentation],,)
+if test "x${enable_doc}" = "x" ; then
+	enable_doc=yes
+fi
+
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether documentation should be built)
+if test ${enable_doc} = no; then
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+else
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+fi
+
+if test ${enable_doc} = yes; then
+	GNOME_DOC_INIT
+else
+	dnl Do not care if GDU is not found
+	GNOME_DOC_INIT(,,[:])
+fi
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL(DISABLE_DOC, test ${enable_doc} = no)
+
+
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([
 Makefile
 compose/Makefile
@@ -96,3 +120,17 @@ po/Makefile.in
 ])
 
 AC_OUTPUT
+
+
+dnl======================
+dnl Summary
+dnl======================
+
+echo ""
+echo "================ Final configuration ==================="
+echo "          Installing into prefix  :  $prefix"
+echo ""
+echo "            Build documentation?  :  $enable_doc"
+echo ""
+echo " If all settings are OK, type make and make install "
+echo "========================================================"