diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f667c0cfe0..2c8a726a1a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,24 +88,30 @@ if (LIBGEOIP_FOUND)
     list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${LibGeoIP_LIBRARY})
 endif ()
 
-set(USE_PERFTOOLS false)
+set(HAVE_PERFTOOLS false)
 set(USE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG false)
+set(USE_PERFTOOLS_TCMALLOC false)
 
 if (NOT DISABLE_PERFTOOLS)
    find_package(GooglePerftools)
 endif ()
 
 if (GOOGLEPERFTOOLS_FOUND)
-    include_directories(BEFORE ${GooglePerftools_INCLUDE_DIR})
-    set(USE_PERFTOOLS true)
+    set(HAVE_PERFTOOLS true)
+    # Non-Linux systems may not be well-supported by gperftools, so
+    # require explicit request from user to enable it in that case.
+    if (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux" OR ENABLE_PERFTOOLS)
+        set(USE_PERFTOOLS_TCMALLOC true)
 
-    if (ENABLE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG)
-        # Enable heap debugging with perftools.
-        set(USE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG true)
-        list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${GooglePerftools_LIBRARIES_DEBUG})
-    else ()
-        # Link in tcmalloc for better performance.
-        list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${GooglePerftools_LIBRARIES})
+        if (ENABLE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG)
+            # Enable heap debugging with perftools.
+            set(USE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG true)
+            include_directories(BEFORE ${GooglePerftools_INCLUDE_DIR})
+            list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${GooglePerftools_LIBRARIES_DEBUG})
+        else ()
+            # Link in tcmalloc for better performance.
+            list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${GooglePerftools_LIBRARIES})
+        endif ()
     endif ()
 endif ()
 
@@ -224,7 +230,8 @@ message(
     "\nAux. Tools:        ${INSTALL_AUX_TOOLS}"
     "\n"
     "\nGeoIP:             ${USE_GEOIP}"
-    "\nGoogle perftools:  ${USE_PERFTOOLS}"
+    "\ngperftools found:  ${HAVE_PERFTOOLS}"
+    "\n        tcmalloc:  ${USE_PERFTOOLS_TCMALLOC}"
     "\n       debugging:  ${USE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG}"
     "\ncURL:              ${USE_CURL}"
     "\n"
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index b4ca606103..8e4aaa8425 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ Usage: $0 [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...
   Optional Features:
     --enable-debug         compile in debugging mode
     --enable-mobile-ipv6   analyze mobile IPv6 features defined by RFC 6275
+    --enable-perftools     force use of Google perftools on non-Linux systems
+                           (automatically on when perftools is present on Linux)
     --enable-perftools-debug use Google's perftools for debugging
     --disable-broccoli     don't build or install the Broccoli library
     --disable-broctl       don't install Broctl
@@ -98,6 +100,7 @@ append_cache_entry PY_MOD_INSTALL_DIR   PATH   $prefix/lib/broctl
 append_cache_entry BRO_SCRIPT_INSTALL_PATH STRING $prefix/share/bro
 append_cache_entry BRO_ETC_INSTALL_DIR  PATH   $prefix/etc
 append_cache_entry ENABLE_DEBUG         BOOL   false
+append_cache_entry ENABLE_PERFTOOLS     BOOL   false
 append_cache_entry ENABLE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG BOOL false
 append_cache_entry BinPAC_SKIP_INSTALL  BOOL   true
 append_cache_entry BUILD_SHARED_LIBS    BOOL   true
@@ -146,7 +149,11 @@ while [ $# -ne 0 ]; do
         --enable-mobile-ipv6)
             append_cache_entry ENABLE_MOBILE_IPV6         BOOL   true
             ;;
+        --enable-perftools)
+            append_cache_entry ENABLE_PERFTOOLS     BOOL   true
+            ;;
         --enable-perftools-debug)
+            append_cache_entry ENABLE_PERFTOOLS     BOOL   true
             append_cache_entry ENABLE_PERFTOOLS_DEBUG BOOL   true
             ;;
         --disable-broccoli)