diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c0d63b3c..2e1a164c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 
 
 MACHINE = platform.machine()
-CFLAGS = ['-O2']
+MODULES_CFLAGS = [os.getenv('UVLOOP_OPT_CFLAGS', '-O2')]
 _ROOT = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
 LIBUV_DIR = str(_ROOT / 'vendor' / 'libuv')
 LIBUV_BUILD_DIR = str(_ROOT / 'build' / 'libuv-{}'.format(MACHINE))
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ def build_extensions(self):
             sources=[
                 "uvloop/loop.pyx",
             ],
-            extra_compile_args=CFLAGS
+            extra_compile_args=MODULES_CFLAGS
         ),
     ],
     classifiers=[