diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 08cfc640c..168ae178d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ else
   endif
 endif
 
+ifdef RELEASE
+  CXXFLAGS += -flto
+  LDFLAGS += -flto
+endif
+
 #######################################################################
 # Misc stuff - you should never have to edit this                     #
 #######################################################################
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 4fb2cf08d..31281ec4c 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ _build_sqlite=no
 _build_static=no
 _build_profile=no
 _build_debug=no
+_build_release=no
 
 # more defaults
 _ranlib=ranlib
@@ -261,8 +262,10 @@ for ac_option in $@; do
       --disable-static)         _build_static=no     ;;
       --enable-profile)         _build_profile=yes   ;;
       --disable-profile)        _build_profile=no    ;;
-			--enable-debug)						_build_debug=yes		 ;;
-			--disable-debug)          _build_debug=false	 ;;
+      --enable-debug)           _build_debug=yes     ;;
+      --disable-debug)          _build_debug=no      ;;
+      --enable-release)         _build_release=yes   ;;
+      --disable-release)        _build_release=no    ;;
       --with-sdl-prefix=*)
         arg=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
         _sdlpath="$arg:$arg/bin"
@@ -277,7 +280,7 @@ for ac_option in $@; do
         ZLIB_CFLAGS="-I$_prefix/include"
         ZLIB_LIBS="-L$_prefix/lib"
         ;;
-			--with-sqlite-prefix=*)
+      --with-sqlite-prefix=*)
         _prefix=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
         SQLITE_CFLAGS="-I$_prefix/include"
         SQLITE_LIBS="-L$_prefix/lib"
@@ -925,6 +928,10 @@ if test "$_build_debug" = no ; then
 	_build_debug=
 fi
 
+if test "$_build_release" = no ; then
+	_build_release=
+fi
+
 echo "Creating config.mak"
 cat > config.mak << EOF
 # -------- Generated by configure -----------
@@ -958,6 +965,7 @@ DOCDIR := $_docdir
 DATADIR := $_datadir
 PROFILE := $_build_profile
 DEBUG   := $_build_debug
+RELEASE := $_build_release
 
 $_make_def_HAVE_GCC
 $_make_def_HAVE_CLANG
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 35b3c2ff4..2e9b442c1 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ endif
 
 config.status: configure
 	dh_testdir
-	CXXFLAGS="$(CXXFLAGS)" ./configure --prefix=/usr
+	CXXFLAGS="$(CXXFLAGS)" ./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-release
 
 build: build-stamp
 
diff --git a/src/unix/stella.spec b/src/unix/stella.spec
index c54cf259a..ad6819995 100644
--- a/src/unix/stella.spec
+++ b/src/unix/stella.spec
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ on your PC.
 
 %build
 export CXXFLAGS=$RPM_OPT_FLAGS
-%configure \
+%configure --enable-release \
 %if %enable_sound
   --enable-sound \
 %else