diff --git a/buildconf/base.ini b/buildconf/base.ini
index ad487fb0..7c146bb5 100644
--- a/buildconf/base.ini
+++ b/buildconf/base.ini
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ zeromq = auto
 ssl = auto
 pcre = auto
 routing = auto
+matheval = auto
 debug = false
 unbit = false
 xml_implementation = libxml2
diff --git a/buildconf/glusterfs.ini b/buildconf/glusterfs.ini
index 4b4af1b8..23ffc707 100644
--- a/buildconf/glusterfs.ini
+++ b/buildconf/glusterfs.ini
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [uwsgi]
 main_plugin = glusterfs
 inherit = base
+matheval = false
diff --git a/plugins/glusterfs/glusterfs.c b/plugins/glusterfs/glusterfs.c
index 6ded22f7..cd4e5690 100644
--- a/plugins/glusterfs/glusterfs.c
+++ b/plugins/glusterfs/glusterfs.c
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #include <uwsgi.h>
 #include <api/glfs.h>
 
+#ifdef UWSGI_MATHEVAL
+#error currently the glusterfs plugins is not compatible with uWSGI built with matheval support
+#endif
+
 extern struct uwsgi_server uwsgi;
 
 /*
diff --git a/uwsgiconfig.py b/uwsgiconfig.py
index 44450e87..e7ab607f 100644
--- a/uwsgiconfig.py
+++ b/uwsgiconfig.py
@@ -918,10 +918,15 @@ class uConf(object):
             self.libs.append('-lcap')
             report['capabilities'] = True
 
-        if self.has_include('matheval.h'):
-            self.cflags.append("-DUWSGI_MATHEVAL")
-            self.libs.append('-lmatheval')
-            report['matheval'] = True
+        if self.get('matheval'):
+            if self.get('matheval') == 'auto' and  self.has_include('matheval.h'):
+                self.cflags.append("-DUWSGI_MATHEVAL")
+                self.libs.append('-lmatheval')
+                report['matheval'] = True
+            else:
+                self.cflags.append("-DUWSGI_MATHEVAL")
+                self.libs.append('-lmatheval')
+                report['matheval'] = True
 
         has_json = False
         has_uuid = False