diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 22537d56d4..3bf9b04879 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -165,6 +165,11 @@ parser.add_option("--with-arm-float-abi",
     help="Specifies which floating-point ABI to use. Valid values are: "
          "soft, softfp, hard")
 
+parser.add_option("--ninja",
+    action="store_true",
+    dest="ninja_build",
+    help="Generate files for the ninja build system")
+
 (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
 
@@ -457,7 +462,9 @@ write('config.gypi', "# Do not edit. Generated by the configure script.\n" +
 write('config.mk', "# Do not edit. Generated by the configure script.\n" +
   ("BUILDTYPE=%s\n" % ('Debug' if options.debug else 'Release')))
 
-if os.name == 'nt':
+if options.ninja_build:
+  gyp_args = ['-f', 'ninja']
+elif os.name == 'nt':
   gyp_args = ['-f', 'msvs', '-G', 'msvs_version=2010']
 else:
   gyp_args = ['-f', 'make']
diff --git a/tools/gyp_node b/tools/gyp_node
index 5c4882f4f2..7b495055c1 100755
--- a/tools/gyp_node
+++ b/tools/gyp_node
@@ -44,8 +44,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
   args.append('--depth=' + node_root)
 
   # There's a bug with windows which doesn't allow this feature.
-  if sys.platform != 'win32':
-
+  if sys.platform != 'win32' and 'ninja' not in args:
     # Tell gyp to write the Makefiles into output_dir
     args.extend(['--generator-output', output_dir])