diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 67d16e530..314e8d9d8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ option(BUILD_WITHOUT_LAPACK "Do not build LAPACK and LAPACKE (Only BLAS or CBLAS
 
 option(BUILD_LAPACK_DEPRECATED "When building LAPACK, include also some older, deprecated routines" ON)
 
+set(LAPACK_STRLEN "" CACHE STRING "When building LAPACK, use this type (e.g. \"int\") for character lengths (defaults to size_t)")
+
 option(BUILD_TESTING "Build LAPACK testsuite when building LAPACK" ON)
 
 option(BUILD_BENCHMARKS "Build the collection of BLAS/LAPACK benchmarks" OFF)
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fa210ad72..78f82dea5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ else
 LAPACK_NOOPT := $(filter-out -O0 -O1 -O2 -O3 -Ofast -O -Og -Os,$(LAPACK_FFLAGS))
 endif
 
+ifdef LAPACK_STRLEN
+LAPACK_FFLAGS += -DLAPACK_STRLEN=$(LAPACK_STRLEN)
+endif
+
 SUBDIRS_ALL = $(SUBDIRS) test ctest utest exports benchmark ../laswp ../bench cpp_thread_test
 
 .PHONY : all libs netlib $(RELA) test ctest shared install