diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7b16ac5..367938a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -67,8 +67,14 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([extratests],
 AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_EXTRATESTS], [test "x$enable_extratests" = xyes])
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([tests],
-	AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-tests], [Enable tests]))
-AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_TESTS], [test "x$enable_tests" = xyes])
+       [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-tests], [Enable tests (default: yes)])],
+       [if test "x$enable-tests" = "xyes"; then
+		have_tests="yes"
+	 else
+		have_tests="no"
+	 fi],
+       [have_tests="yes"])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_TESTS], [test "x$have_tests" = xyes])
 
 # Add CPU-specific alignment flags
 old_cflags=$CFLAGS