diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ecd375a1445..4751c0fc292 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ parser.add_option("--shared-openssl-libname",
     dest="shared_openssl_libname",
     help="Alternative lib name to link to (default: 'crypto,ssl')")
 
+parser.add_option("--openssl-no-asm",
+    action="store_true",
+    dest="openssl_no_asm",
+    help="Do not build optimized assembly for OpenSSL")
+
 # deprecated
 parser.add_option("--openssl-use-sys",
     action="store_true",
@@ -609,6 +614,8 @@ def configure_v8(o):
 def configure_openssl(o):
   o['variables']['node_use_openssl'] = b(not options.without_ssl)
   o['variables']['node_shared_openssl'] = b(options.shared_openssl)
+  o['variables']['openssl_no_asm'] = (
+    1 if options.openssl_no_asm else 0)
 
   if options.without_ssl:
     return
diff --git a/deps/openssl/openssl.gyp b/deps/openssl/openssl.gyp
index 5c654c9e1eb..5d7880a558f 100644
--- a/deps/openssl/openssl.gyp
+++ b/deps/openssl/openssl.gyp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   'variables': {
     'is_clang': 0,
     'gcc_version': 0,
+    'openssl_no_asm%': 0
   },
 
   'targets': [
@@ -651,7 +652,7 @@
         ['exclude', 'store/.*$']
       ],
       'conditions': [
-        ['target_arch!="ia32" and target_arch!="x64" and target_arch!="arm"', {
+        ['target_arch!="ia32" and target_arch!="x64" and target_arch!="arm" or openssl_no_asm!=0', {
           # Disable asm
           'defines': [
             'OPENSSL_NO_ASM'