diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a67443a2..fb33ecd6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ ifeq ($(PACKAGE_VERSION),Unknown)
   $(warning Version is unknown - consider creating a VERSION file or fixing your git setup.)
 endif
 
-CPPFLAGS = -Wall -funsigned-char -g -O2 -DDEBUG="$(DEBUG)" -DPACKAGE_VERSION="\"$(PACKAGE_VERSION)\"" -DRELEASE="\"$(RELEASE)\""
+CPPFLAGS = -Wall -g -O2
+override CPPFLAGS += -funsigned-char -DDEBUG="$(DEBUG)" -DPACKAGE_VERSION="\"$(PACKAGE_VERSION)\"" -DRELEASE="\"$(RELEASE)\""
 
+ifdef WITH_THREADNAMES
+override CPPFLAGS += -DWITH_THREADNAMES=1
+endif
+
+THREADLIB = -lpthread
 LDLIBS = -lmist
 
 
@@ -35,7 +41,7 @@ MistPlayer: src/buffer/player.cpp
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
 buffers: MistBuffer
-MistBuffer: LDLIBS += -lpthread
+MistBuffer: override LDLIBS += $(THREADLIB)
 MistBuffer: src/buffer/buffer.cpp src/buffer/buffer_stream.h src/buffer/buffer_stream.cpp tinythread.o tinythread.h
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) src/buffer/buffer.cpp src/buffer/buffer_stream.cpp tinythread.o $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
@@ -48,7 +54,7 @@ MistConnRTMP: src/connectors/conn_rtmp.cpp
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
 connectors: MistConnHTTP
-MistConnHTTP: LDLIBS += -lpthread
+MistConnHTTP: override LDLIBS += $(THREADLIB)
 MistConnHTTP: src/connectors/conn_http.cpp tinythread.o tinythread.h src/connectors/embed.js.h src/connectors/icon.h
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) src/connectors/conn_http.cpp tinythread.o $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
diff --git a/README b/README
index 1801c5a9..a54bda43 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -31,8 +31,10 @@ The makefile will listen to the following variables:
   exec_prefix      Prefix to install object code and binaries to. Defaults to $(prefix)
   bindir           Directory to install binaries to. Defaults to $(exec_prefix)/bin
   DESTDIR          Global prefix that will be put in front of any and all other file paths.
-  CPPFLAGS         Flags for compiling object files. Defaults to -Wall -g -O2 -fPIC -DDEBUG="$(DEBUG)" -DPACKAGE_VERSION="\"$(PACKAGE_VERSION)\""
-  LDLIBS           Libraries to include. Defaults to -lmist, adding -lpthread for some binaries.
+  CPPFLAGS         Flags for compiling object files. Defaults to -Wall -g -O2
+  LDLIBS           Libraries to include. Defaults to -lmist
+  THREADLIB        Libraries to include for threaded binaries. Defaults to -lpthread
+  WITH_THREADNAMES If set, this will set names of threads in threaded binaries. Defaults to being unset.
 
 Use "make var1=val1 var2=val2" to set these. For example:
   make install DEBUG=0 prefix=/usr/local
diff --git a/src/buffer/buffer.cpp b/src/buffer/buffer.cpp
index 2e6d7c57..38b75b97 100644
--- a/src/buffer/buffer.cpp
+++ b/src/buffer/buffer.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace Buffer {
   ///\brief A function running in a thread to send all statistics.
   ///\param empty A null pointer.
   void handleStats(void * empty){
-#if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
+#if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && defined(WITH_THREADNAMES) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
     pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), "StatsHandler");
 #endif
     if (empty != 0){
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ namespace Buffer {
     if (empty != 0){
       return;
     }
-    #if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
+    #if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && defined(WITH_THREADNAMES) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
     pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), "Standard Input");
     #endif
     long long int timeDiff = 0; //difference between local time and stream time
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ namespace Buffer {
 #if DEBUG >= 5
     std::cerr << "Thread launched for user " << usr->sID << ", socket number " << usr->S.getSocket() << std::endl;
 #endif
-#if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
+#if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && defined(WITH_THREADNAMES) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
     pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), usr->sID.c_str());
 #endif
     usr->myRing = thisStream->getRing();
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ namespace Buffer {
     }
     SS.setBlocking(false);
     conf.activate();
-    #if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
+    #if defined(_TTHREAD_POSIX_) && defined(WITH_THREADNAMES) && !(defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__MACH__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__))
     pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), "Main accepter");
     #endif
     thisStream = Stream::get();