diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 344cb86c27..fbf238660b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -236,6 +236,16 @@ AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-atomic],[use atomic reference counting header]),
 esac], 
 [USE_ATOMIC_H=$HAVE_ATOMIC_H]) dnl Default value
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(fast-stack-trash,
+AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-fast-stack-trash],[use fast memory allocator (i586 or above)]),
+[case "${enableval}" in
+  yes) USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH=yes;;
+  noset) USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH=no;;
+  no)  USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH=no;;
+  *) AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-atomic) ;;
+esac], 
+[USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH=yes]) dnl Default value
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(plugin-builddir,
 AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-plugin-builddir],[allow tests/demos to use non-installed plugins]),
 [case "${enableval}" in
@@ -358,6 +368,10 @@ if test "x$USE_ATOMIC_H" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_ATOMIC_H, 1, [Define if atomic.h header file is available])
 fi
 
+if test "x$USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH" = xyes; then
+  AC_DEFINE(USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH, 1, [Define if we should use i586 optimized stack functions])
+fi
+
 dnl test if we have pthread_attr_setstack; if not use the older calls
 AC_CHECK_LIB(pthread, pthread_attr_setstack, 
    AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PTHREAD_ATTR_SETSTACK, 1, 
diff --git a/gst/gsttrashstack.h b/gst/gsttrashstack.h
index b2914753bc..8915168c3a 100644
--- a/gst/gsttrashstack.h
+++ b/gst/gsttrashstack.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ GST_INLINE_FUNC gpointer 	gst_trash_stack_pop 	(GstTrashStack *stack);
 
 #if defined (GST_CAN_INLINE) || defined (__GST_TRASH_STACK_C__)
 
-#if defined (__i386__) && defined (__GNUC__) && __GNUC__ >= 2 
+#if defined (USE_FAST_STACK_TRASH) && defined (__i386__) && defined (__GNUC__) && __GNUC__ >= 2 
 
 #ifdef GST_CONFIG_NO_SMP
 #define SMP_LOCK ""