diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 91d2bed02c..81debe9ee7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -217,9 +217,14 @@ if(SECP256K1_BUILD_BENCHMARK OR SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS OR SECP256K1_BUILD_EXHAUST
   enable_testing()
 endif()
 
+set(SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS "" CACHE STRING "Compiler flags that can override flags set by the build system.")
+include(AllTargetsCompileOptions)
+
 add_subdirectory(src)
+all_targets_compile_options(src "${SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS}")
 if(SECP256K1_BUILD_EXAMPLES)
   add_subdirectory(examples)
+  all_targets_compile_options(examples "${SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS}")
 endif()
 
 message("\n")
@@ -292,6 +297,9 @@ else()
   message(" - LDFLAGS for executables ............ ${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS_DEBUG}")
   message(" - LDFLAGS for shared libraries ....... ${CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS_DEBUG}")
 endif()
+if(SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS)
+  message("SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS ................. ${SECP256K1_LATE_CFLAGS}")
+endif()
 message("\n")
 if(SECP256K1_EXPERIMENTAL)
   message(
diff --git a/cmake/AllTargetsCompileOptions.cmake b/cmake/AllTargetsCompileOptions.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e420e0fde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/AllTargetsCompileOptions.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Add compile options to all targets added in the subdirectory.
+function(all_targets_compile_options dir options)
+  get_directory_property(targets DIRECTORY ${dir} BUILDSYSTEM_TARGETS)
+  separate_arguments(options)
+  set(compiled_target_types STATIC_LIBRARY SHARED_LIBRARY OBJECT_LIBRARY EXECUTABLE)
+  foreach(target ${targets})
+    get_target_property(type ${target} TYPE)
+    if(type IN_LIST compiled_target_types)
+      target_compile_options(${target} PRIVATE ${options})
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+endfunction()