diff --git a/winsup/Makefile.am b/winsup/Makefile.am
index 067f74688..9efdd4cb1 100644
--- a/winsup/Makefile.am
+++ b/winsup/Makefile.am
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ cygdoc_DATA = \
 	CYGWIN_LICENSE \
 	COPYING
 
-SUBDIRS = cygwin cygserver doc utils testsuite
+SUBDIRS = cygwin cygserver utils testsuite
+
+if BUILD_DOC
+SUBDIRS += doc
+endif
 
 cygserver utils testsuite: cygwin
diff --git a/winsup/configure.ac b/winsup/configure.ac
index cf1128b37..4ae20509a 100644
--- a/winsup/configure.ac
+++ b/winsup/configure.ac
@@ -88,7 +88,30 @@ AC_SUBST(TLSOFFSETS_H)
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL(TARGET_X86_64, [test $target_cpu = "x86_64"])
 
-AC_CHECK_PROGS([DOCBOOK2XTEXI], [docbook2x-texi db2x_docbook2texi], [true])
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(doc,
+	      [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-doc], [Build documentation])],,
+	      enable_doc=yes)
+AM_CONDITIONAL(BUILD_DOC, [test $enable_doc != "no"])
+
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([DOCBOOK2XTEXI], [docbook2x-texi db2x_docbook2texi])
+if test -z "$DOCBOOK2XTEXI" ; then
+    if test "x$enable_doc" != "xno"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([docbook2texi is required to build documentation])
+    else
+        unset DOCBOOK2XTEXI
+        AM_MISSING_PROG([DOCBOOK2XTEXI], [docbook2texi])
+    fi
+fi
+
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([XMLTO], [xmlto])
+if test -z "$XMLTO"; then
+    if test "x$enable_doc" != "xno"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([xmlto is required to build documentation])
+    else
+        unset XMLTO
+        AM_MISSING_PROG([XMLTO], [xmlto])
+    fi
+fi
 
 if test "x$with_cross_bootstrap" != "xyes"; then
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(MINGW_CXX, ${target_cpu}-w64-mingw32-g++)
diff --git a/winsup/doc/Makefile.am b/winsup/doc/Makefile.am
index 534d67480..5164c6e0a 100644
--- a/winsup/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/winsup/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ doc_DATA = \
 
 htmldir = $(datarootdir)/doc
 
-XMLTO=xmlto --skip-validation --with-dblatex
+XMLTO=@XMLTO@ --skip-validation --with-dblatex
 DOCBOOK2XTEXI=@DOCBOOK2XTEXI@ --xinclude --info --utf8trans-map=charmap
 
 -include Makefile.dep
diff --git a/winsup/doc/faq-programming.xml b/winsup/doc/faq-programming.xml
index 26fcfe921..46dd23ab8 100644
--- a/winsup/doc/faq-programming.xml
+++ b/winsup/doc/faq-programming.xml
@@ -689,12 +689,16 @@ Building for 32-bit Cygwin also requires
 Building for 64-bit Cygwin also requires
 <literal>mingw64-x86_64-gcc-g++</literal> and
 <literal>mingw64-x86_64-zlib</literal>.
+</para>
+
 <!-- If you want to run the tests, <literal>dejagnu</literal> is also required. -->
-Normally, building ignores any errors in building the documentation,
-which requires the <literal>dblatex</literal>, <literal>docbook2X</literal>,
-<literal>docbook-xml45</literal>, <literal>docbook-xsl</literal>, and
-<literal>xmlto</literal> packages.  For more information on building the
-documentation, see the README included in the <literal>cygwin-doc</literal> package.
+
+<para>
+Building the documentation also requires the <literal>dblatex</literal>,
+<literal>docbook2X</literal>, <literal>docbook-xml45</literal>,
+<literal>docbook-xsl</literal>, and <literal>xmlto</literal> packages.  Building
+the documentation can be disabled with the <literal>--disable-doc</literal>
+option to <literal>configure</literal>.
 </para>
 
 <para>Next, check out the Cygwin sources from the