diff --git a/academic/h5utils/README b/academic/h5utils/README
index 3b0ed29af6..60dcde6366 100644
--- a/academic/h5utils/README
+++ b/academic/h5utils/README
@@ -1,9 +1,33 @@
-H5utils is is a set of utilities for visualization and
-conversion of scientific data in the free, portable HDF5
-format.  Besides providing a simple tool for batch
-visualization as PNG images, h5utils also includes
-programs to convert HDF5 datasets into the formats
-required by other free visualization software (e.g.
-plain text, Vis5d, and VTK).
+h5utils (visualization and conversion of HDF5 data)
+
+H5utils is is a set of utilities for visualization and conversion of
+scientific data in the free, portable HDF5 format.  Besides providing
+a simple tool for batch visualization as PNG images, h5utils also
+includes programs to convert HDF5 datasets into the formats required
+by other free visualization software (e.g. plain text, Vis5d, and
+VTK).
+
+This package requires: hdf5
+
+You probably want to preinstall: libmatheval
+
+You possibly want to install: octave, hdf; and perhaps Vis5d (not on
+SBo).
+
+
+Configuration:
+
+You can add additional options to the command line using the
+environment variable SBOPTIONS_H5UTILS; e.g. to enable the hdf4 utils
+and not rely on the conversion routines, use
+
+SBOPTIONS_H5UTILS="--with-hdf4" ./h5utils.Slackbuild
+
+Alternatively, if building non-interactively (e.g. if using slpkg),
+use/create the file /etc/sbo_pkg_options.conf since this slackbuild
+script will search it for options. Simply include a line starting
+"h5utils:" followed by options, e.g.:
+
+h5utils: --with-hdf4
+
 
-Optional dependencies: libmatheval, octave, hdf, and perhaps Vis5d.
diff --git a/academic/h5utils/h5utils.SlackBuild b/academic/h5utils/h5utils.SlackBuild
index 030abacf28..1bc4c3a5ef 100644
--- a/academic/h5utils/h5utils.SlackBuild
+++ b/academic/h5utils/h5utils.SlackBuild
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 cd $(dirname $0) ; CWD=$(pwd)
 
 PRGNAM=h5utils
-VERSION=${VERSION:-1.13.1}
+VERSION=${VERSION:-1.13.2}
 BUILD=${BUILD:-1}
 TAG=${TAG:-_SBo}
 PKGTYPE=${PKGTYPE:-tgz}
@@ -64,13 +64,13 @@ else
   LIBDIRSUFFIX=""
 fi
 
+set -e 
+
 # change annoying underscores into hyphens
 SVERSION=$(echo $VERSION | tr '_' '-')
 # make a custom list of doc files in advance
 DOCFILES="AUTHORS COPYING"
 
-set -e
-
 rm -rf $PKG
 mkdir -p $TMP $PKG $OUTPUT
 cd $TMP
@@ -85,11 +85,20 @@ find -L . \
   -o -perm 440 -o -perm 400 \) -exec chmod 644 {} \;
 
 # if there is no configure script, try to build one!
-if [ ! -f ./configure ] ; then
+if [ ! -f ./configure ] ; then 
   ./autogen.sh
 fi
 
 LOCALCONFIGS=
+XDBFILE=/etc/sbo_pkg_options.conf
+if [ -f ${XDBFILE} ] ; then
+  LOCALCONFIGS=${LOCALCONFIGS}" "$(grep "^${PRGNAM}:" ${XDBFILE} | grep -v '^#' | awk -F: '{print$2}')
+  echo Build options selected by file: LOCALCONFIGS=${LOCALCONFIGS}
+fi
+if [  -n "${SBOPTIONS_H5UTILS}" ] ; then
+  LOCALCONFIGS=${LOCALCONFIGS}" "${SBOPTIONS_H5UTILS}
+  echo Build options selected by environment: LOCALCONFIGS=${LOCALCONFIGS}
+fi
 
 CFLAGS="$SLKCFLAGS" \
 CPPFLAGS="$SLKCFLAGS" \
@@ -101,12 +110,6 @@ CPPFLAGS="$SLKCFLAGS" \
   --build=$ARCH-slackware-linux \
   $LOCALCONFIGS
 
-# allow parallel makes if this variable is set;
-#    but always finish with a single make in case
-#       there is a problem with that
-if [ "${JMULTIMAKE}" ]  ; then
-  make -j ${JMULTIMAKE}
-fi
 make
 make install DESTDIR=$PKG
 
@@ -117,6 +120,9 @@ cat $CWD/$PRGNAM.SlackBuild > $PKG/usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/$PRGNAM.SlackBuild
 find $PKG -print0 | xargs -0 file | grep -e "executable" -e "shared object" | grep ELF \
   | cut -f 1 -d : | xargs strip --strip-unneeded 2> /dev/null || true
 
+find $PKG/usr/man -type f -exec gzip -9 {} \;
+for i in $( find $PKG/usr/man -type l ) ; do ln -s $( readlink $i ).gz $i.gz ; rm $i ; done
+
 mkdir -p $PKG/install
 cat $CWD/slack-desc > $PKG/install/slack-desc
 
diff --git a/academic/h5utils/h5utils.info b/academic/h5utils/h5utils.info
index a600f211b9..08f261fe8b 100644
--- a/academic/h5utils/h5utils.info
+++ b/academic/h5utils/h5utils.info
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 PRGNAM="h5utils"
-VERSION="1.13.1"
+VERSION="1.13.2"
 HOMEPAGE="https://github.com/NanoComp/h5utils"
-DOWNLOAD="https://github.com/NanoComp/h5utils/releases/download/1.13.1/h5utils-1.13.1.tar.gz"
-MD5SUM="b116cbb79ea22bbd1640cd8a1290f6f8"
+DOWNLOAD="https://github.com/NanoComp/h5utils/releases/download/1.13.2/h5utils-1.13.2.tar.gz"
+MD5SUM="32949375c6bfbe5849b940e82a0464dd"
 DOWNLOAD_x86_64=""
 MD5SUM_x86_64=""
 REQUIRES="hdf5"
diff --git a/academic/h5utils/slack-desc b/academic/h5utils/slack-desc
index 226340b323..2fecfe9c9a 100644
--- a/academic/h5utils/slack-desc
+++ b/academic/h5utils/slack-desc
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
        |-----handy-ruler------------------------------------------------------|
 h5utils: h5utils (visualization and conversion of HDF5 data)
 h5utils:
-h5utils: These utilities provide simple tools for batch visualization of
+h5utils: These utilities provide simple tools for batch visualization of 
 h5utils: hdf5 datafiles as PNG images. They also allow conversion from hdf5
 h5utils: format into other formats used for visualization, such as plain text,
 h5utils: Vis5d, and VTK.