diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2293dedd8e..e5953d3086 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 *.swp
 *.trs
 *~
+.config.args
 .deps/
 .dirstamp
 .libs/
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 0fc6e57027..7b62449be8 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ args="\
 --libdir=$(libdir /usr/lib) \
 $gtkdocargs"
 
+if [ -f "$topdir/.config.args" ]; then
+        args="$args $(cat $topdir/.config.args)"
+fi
+
 if [ ! -L /bin ]; then
 args="$args \
 --with-rootprefix= \