diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index dcfb3dedcc..403417d0a0 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2008-07-11  Sven Neumann  <sven@gimp.org>
+
+	* configure.in
+	* docs/Makefile.am: made the build of gimp-remote optional and
+	disable it by default.
+
+	* INSTALL: document the --enable-gimp-remote configure option.
+
 2008-07-11  Tor Lillqvist  <tml@novell.com>
 
 	* app/unique.c (gimp_unique_filename_to_uri): Check GError being
diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index c443165c52..7161d50356 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ These are:
      gimp-console binary to be built in addition to the standard binary.
      gimp-console is useful for command-line batch mode or as a server.
 
+  --enable-gimp-remote.  Use this option if you want the gimp-remote
+     binary to be built. This only works with X11 and it is obsolete if#
+     your platform has DBus support.
+
   --disable-python.  If for some reason you don't want to build the
      Python based pygimp plug-in, you can use --disable-python.
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 3968466aa2..b2f3ab9923 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -888,16 +888,25 @@ if test "x$enable_mp" != "xno"; then
 	    [Define to 1 to enable support for multiple processors.])
 fi
 
+###################################################
+# gimp-remote is obsolete, but can still be enabled
+###################################################
+
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(gimp-remote,
+	      [  --enable-gimp-remote    build gimp-remote utility (default=no)],
+	      enable_gimp_remote=yes,
+	      enable_gimp_remote="no (not enabled)")
+
 
 ################################
 # Some plug-ins are X11 specific
 ################################
 
-GIMP_COMMAND='gimp-gimp_app_version'
-
 # Check if building for GTK+-X11
 gdk_target=`$PKG_CONFIG --variable=target gtk+-2.0`
 
+have_libxmu="no (building for $gdk_target)"
+
 if test "$gdk_target" = x11; then
 
    # doc-shooter is X11 specific
@@ -912,16 +921,13 @@ if test "$gdk_target" = x11; then
    LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $X_LIBS"
 
    # Test for Xmu
-   enable_gimp_remote=yes
    if test -z "$LIBXMU"; then
       AC_CHECK_LIB(Xmu, XmuClientWindow,
         [AC_CHECK_HEADERS(X11/Xmu/WinUtil.h,
-          GIMP_REMOTE='gimp-remote-gimp_app_version$(EXEEXT)';
-	  GIMP_COMMAND='gimp-remote-gimp_app_version'
 	  have_libxmu=yes
           LIBXMU="$X_LIBS $X_PRE_LIBS -lX11 -lXmu -lXt",
-	  [enable_gimp_remote="no (XMU header file not found)"],[#include <gdk/gdkx.h>])],
-	[enable_gimp_remote="no (XMU library not found)"], -lXt -lX11)
+	  [have_libxmu="no (XMU header file not found)"],[#include <gdk/gdkx.h>])],
+	[have_libxmu="no (XMU library not found)"], -lXt -lX11)
       LIBSCREENSHOT="$LIBXMU"
    fi
 
@@ -940,9 +946,6 @@ if test "$gdk_target" = x11; then
                 [Define to 1 to if the XFIXES X extension is available])
       LIBSCREENSHOT="$LIBSCREENSHOT $XFIXES_LIBS",
       true)
-
-else
-   enable_gimp_remote="no (building for $gdk_target)"
 fi
 
 AC_SUBST(LIBXMU)
@@ -950,7 +953,21 @@ AC_SUBST(LIBSCREENSHOT)
 
 AC_SUBST(DOC_SHOOTER)
 
+
+if test x"$enable_gimp_remote" = xyes; then
+  enable_gimp_remote="$have_libxmu"
+fi
+
+if test x"$enable_gimp_remote" = xyes; then
+  GIMP_REMOTE='gimp-remote-gimp_app_version$(EXEEXT)'
+  GIMP_REMOTE_MANPAGE='gimp-remote-gimp_app_version.1'
+  GIMP_COMMAND='gimp-remote-gimp_app_version'
+else
+  GIMP_COMMAND='gimp-gimp_app_version'
+fi
+
 AC_SUBST(GIMP_REMOTE)
+AC_SUBST(GIMP_REMOTE_MANPAGE)
 AC_SUBST(GIMP_COMMAND)
 
 
diff --git a/docs/Makefile.am b/docs/Makefile.am
index 40369fcbd2..02af952dfb 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/docs/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ## Process this file with automake to produce Makefile.in
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
+	gimp-remote.1.in		\
 	Wilber.xcf.gz			\
 	Wilber.xcf.gz.README		\
 	Wilber_Construction_Kit.xcf.gz
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 mans = \
 	gimp-$(GIMP_APP_VERSION).1	\
 	gimprc-$(GIMP_APP_VERSION).5	\
-	gimp-remote-$(GIMP_APP_VERSION).1
+	$(GIMP_REMOTE_MANPAGE)
 
 man_MANS = \
 	$(mans)				\