diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 0fc28fba3..ec4c3e373 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ opts.AddVariables(
     PathVariable('SQLITE_LIBS', 'Search path for SQLITE library files', '/usr/' + LIBDIR_SCHEMA, PathVariable.PathAccept),
     
     # Other variables
+    BoolVariable('SHAPE_MEMORY_MAPPED_FILE', 'Utilize memory-mapped files in Shapefile Plugin (higher memory usage, better performance)', 'True'),
     ('SYSTEM_FONTS','Provide location for python bindings to register fonts (if given aborts installation of bundled DejaVu fonts)',''),
     ('LIB_DIR_NAME','Name to use for the "lib" folder where fonts and plugins are installed','/mapnik/'),
     PathVariable('PYTHON','Full path to Python executable used to build bindings', sys.executable),
diff --git a/plugins/input/shape/SConscript b/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
index 784de7054..ad4d6c17f 100644
--- a/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
+++ b/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
@@ -45,7 +45,13 @@ if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
     libraries.append('boost_system%s' % env['BOOST_APPEND'])
     libraries.append('boost_filesystem%s' % env['BOOST_APPEND'])
 
-shape_inputdriver = env.SharedLibrary('shape', SHLIBSUFFIX='.input', source=shape_src, SHLIBPREFIX='', LIBS = libraries)
+if env['SHAPE_MEMORY_MAPPED_FILE']:
+    cxx_flags = '-DSHAPE_MEMORY_MAPPED_FILE'
+else:
+    cxx_flags = ''
+
+
+shape_inputdriver = env.SharedLibrary('shape', SHLIBSUFFIX='.input', source=shape_src, SHLIBPREFIX='', LIBS = libraries, CXXFLAGS=cxx_flags)
 
 env.Install(install_prefix + '/' + env['LIBDIR_SCHEMA'] + env['LIB_DIR_NAME'] + '/input', shape_inputdriver)
 env.Alias('install', install_prefix + '/' + env['LIBDIR_SCHEMA'] + env['LIB_DIR_NAME'] + '/input')