diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ea40ecc3..210512b6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,14 +38,20 @@ include(MacroCopyFile)
 # search for libraries
 find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
 
-find_package(OpenSSL)
-
-if (NOT CRYPTO_FOUND)
-  find_package(GCrypt)
+if (WITH_GCRYPT)
+  find_package(GCrypt REQUIRED)
   if (NOT GCRYPT_FOUND)
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find OpenSSL or GCrypt")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find GCrypt")
   endif (NOT GCRYPT_FOUND)
-endif (NOT CRYPTO_FOUND)
+else (WITH_GCRYPT)
+  find_package(OpenSSL)
+  if (NOT CRYPTO_FOUND)
+    find_package(GCrypt)
+    if (NOT GCRYPT_FOUND)
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find OpenSSL or GCrypt")
+    endif (NOT GCRYPT_FOUND)
+  endif (NOT CRYPTO_FOUND)
+endif(WITH_GCRYPT)
 
 # config.h checks
 include(ConfigureChecks.cmake)
diff --git a/DefineOptions.cmake b/DefineOptions.cmake
index 0fb25876..bec65614 100644
--- a/DefineOptions.cmake
+++ b/DefineOptions.cmake
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ option(WITH_SERVER "Build with SSH server support" ON)
 option(WITH_STATIC_LIB "Build with a static library" OFF)
 option(WITH_DEBUG_CRYPTO "Build with cryto debug output" OFF)
 option(WITH_DEBUG_CALLTRACE "Build with calltrace debug output" ON)
+option(WITH_GCRYPT "Compile against libgcrypt" OFF)