diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index cbad460..0656694 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -63,6 +63,26 @@
 AC_SUBST(ZLIB_INCLUDE)
 AC_SUBST(ZLIB_LIB)
 
+AC_ARG_WITH(installed-jpeg,
+[  --with-installed-jpeg   use the version of jpeg which is installed on the
+                          system instead of the one distributed with VNC])
+
+if test "$with_installed_jpeg" = yes; then
+  echo "using installed jpeg"
+  JPEG_LIB=-ljpeg
+else
+  JPEG_DIR=jpeg
+  JPEG_INCLUDE='-I$(top_srcdir)/jpeg'
+  JPEG_LIB='$(top_srcdir)/jpeg/libjpeg.a'
+  echo "configuring jpeg..."
+  (cd jpeg; ./configure)
+  echo "...done configuring jpeg"
+fi
+
+AC_SUBST(JPEG_DIR)
+AC_SUBST(JPEG_INCLUDE)
+AC_SUBST(JPEG_LIB)
+
 AC_CHECK_FUNC(vsnprintf,VSNPRINTF_DEFINE='-DHAVE_VSNPRINTF',VSNPRINTF_DEFINE=)
 AC_SUBST(VSNPRINTF_DEFINE)