diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e618e424..0251e09c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 AC_INIT(src/arabica.cpp)
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(include/SAX/ArabicaConfig.h)
 
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(arabica, Sept2006-2)
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(arabica, Sept2006-3)
 
 AC_PROG_CXX
 AM_PROG_LIBTOOL
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ AM_PROG_LIBTOOL
 AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS
 
 ARABICA_HAS_BOOST([1.32])
+ARABICA_WANT_DOM
 ARABICA_HAS_EXPAT
 ARABICA_HAS_LIBXML2
 ARABICA_HAS_XERCES
diff --git a/examples/Makefile.am b/examples/Makefile.am
index f02bb1f2..54715a65 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile.am
+++ b/examples/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-SUBDIRS = SAX DOM Utils 
-if HAVE_BOOST
+SUBDIRS = SAX Utils 
+if WANT_DOM 
+  SUBDIRS += DOM
+endif
+if WANT_XPATH
   SUBDIRS += XPath
 endif
 
diff --git a/m4/ax_boost_base.m4 b/m4/ax_boost_base.m4
index 08d2427d..c9e90d13 100644
--- a/m4/ax_boost_base.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_boost_base.m4
@@ -151,16 +151,21 @@ AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_HAS_BOOST],
                         else
                                 AC_MSG_NOTICE('Your Boost libraries seems to old (version $_version).  We need at least $boost_lib_version_shorten')
                         fi
-                        AC_MSG_NOTICE([[Arabica will build, but XPath and some other features will not be available]]) 
+                        AC_MSG_NOTICE([[Arabica will build, but some features will not be available]]) 
                 else
                        AC_SUBST(BOOST_CPPFLAGS)
                         AC_DEFINE(HAVE_BOOST,,[define if the Boost library is available])
                 fi
         CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS_SAVED"
         else
-                        AC_MSG_NOTICE([[Not searching for Boost.  Arabica will build, but XPath and some other features will not be available]]) 
+                        AC_MSG_NOTICE([[Not searching for Boost.  Arabica will build, but some features will not be available]]) 
         fi
         AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_BOOST, test x$succeeded = xyes)
+        if test "$succeeded" = "yes"; then
+          boost_is_available=yes
+        else
+          boost_is_available=no
+        fi
 ])
 
 
diff --git a/m4/want_dom.m4 b/m4/want_dom.m4
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..1d583392
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/want_dom.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_WANT_DOM],
+[
+  AC_ARG_WITH([dom],
+              AS_HELP_STRING([--with-dom=yes|no],
+              [Control whether DOM tests and examples are built.  --with-dom=no to disable]),
+              [if test "$withval" = "no"; then
+                 want_dom="no"
+               else
+                 want_dom="yes"
+               fi],
+              [want_dom="yes"])
+  if test x$want_dom = xno; then
+    AC_MSG_NOTICE([[DOM disabled.  DOM components will not be built.]])
+  fi
+  AM_CONDITIONAL(WANT_DOM, test "$want_dom" = "yes")
+  if test "$want_dom" = "yes"; then
+    if test "$boost_is_available" = "yes"; then
+      want_xpath = "yes"
+    fi
+  fi
+  if test "$want_xpath" != "yes"; then
+    AC_MSG_NOTICE([[XPath disabled.  XPath components will not be built.]])
+  fi
+  AM_CONDITIONAL(WANT_XPATH, test "$want_xpath" = "yes")
+])
diff --git a/test/Makefile.am b/test/Makefile.am
index 3f4786b5..c18d9fb8 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-SUBDIRS = DOM SAX2DOM 
-if HAVE_BOOST
+SUBDIRS = 
+if WANT_DOM
+  SUBDIRS += DOM SAX2DOM
+endif
+if WANT_XPATH
   SUBDIRS += XPath
 endif