diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cfb39e4..4fa5841 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-XLIBS
+config
 config.h
 *.o
 sxiv
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dd1c87b..590c391 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -24,27 +24,27 @@ options:
 	@echo "CC $<"
 	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -DVERSION=\"$(VERSION)\" -c -o $@ $<
 
-$(OBJ) XLIBS: Makefile config.h
+$(OBJ) config: Makefile config.h
 
-XLIBS: XLIBS.c
+config: config.c
 	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $@.c
 
 config.h:
 	@echo "creating $@ from config.def.h"
 	@cp config.def.h $@
 
-sxiv:	$(OBJ) XLIBS
+sxiv:	$(OBJ) config
 	@echo "CC -o $@"
-	@$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJ) $(LIBS) $$(./XLIBS)
+	@$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJ) $(LIBS) $$(./config -l)
 
 clean:
 	@echo "cleaning"
-	@rm -f $(OBJ) XLIBS sxiv sxiv-$(VERSION).tar.gz
+	@rm -f $(OBJ) config sxiv sxiv-$(VERSION).tar.gz
 
 dist: clean
 	@echo "creating dist tarball"
 	@mkdir -p sxiv-$(VERSION)
-	@cp LICENSE Makefile README.md config.def.h sxiv.1 $(SRC) XLIBS.c \
+	@cp LICENSE Makefile README.md config.def.h sxiv.1 $(SRC) config.c \
 	    sxiv-$(VERSION)
 	@tar -cf sxiv-$(VERSION).tar sxiv-$(VERSION)
 	@gzip sxiv-$(VERSION).tar
diff --git a/XLIBS.c b/XLIBS.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 14dc1e1..0000000
--- a/XLIBS.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200112L
-#define _FEATURE_CONFIG
-
-#include <stdio.h>
-
-#include "config.h"
-
-int n = 0;
-
-inline void put_lib_flag(const char *flag, int needed) {
-	if (needed)
-		printf("%s%s", n++ ? " " : "", flag);
-}
-
-int main(int argc, char **argv) {
-	put_lib_flag("-lexif", EXIF_SUPPORT);
-	put_lib_flag("-lgif",  GIF_SUPPORT);
-
-	if (n)
-		printf("\n");
-
-	return 0;
-}
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51da7db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.c
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200112L
+#define _FEATURE_CONFIG
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#define QUOTE(m) #m
+#define PUT_MACRO(m) \
+	printf("%s-D%s=%s", n++ ? " " : "", #m, QUOTE(m))
+
+int n = 0;
+
+inline void puts_if(const char *s, int c) {
+	if (c)
+		printf("%s%s", n++ ? " " : "", s);
+}
+
+inline void endl() {
+	if (n) {
+		printf("\n");
+		n = 0;
+	}
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-D")) {
+			PUT_MACRO(EXIF_SUPPORT);
+			PUT_MACRO(GIF_SUPPORT);
+			endl();
+		} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-l")) {
+			puts_if("-lexif", EXIF_SUPPORT);
+			puts_if("-lgif",  GIF_SUPPORT);
+			endl();
+		} else {
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s: invalid argument: %s\n", argv[0], argv[i]);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}