--- a/configure.ac	
+++ a/configure.ac	
@@ -393,6 +393,19 @@ case "${ENABLE_LD}" in
     ;;
 esac
 
+# PR gas/19109
+# Decide the default method for compressing debug sections.
+# Provide a configure time option to override our default.
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(compressed_debug_sections,
+[AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-compressed-debug-sections={all,gas,gold,ld}],
+		[Enable compressed debug sections for gas, gold or ld by
+		 default])],
+[
+  if test x"$enable_compressed_debug_sections" = xyes; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([no program with compressed debug sections specified])
+  fi
+], [enable_compressed_debug_sections=])
+
 # Configure extra directories which are host specific
 
 case "${host}" in
--- a/gas/NEWS	
+++ a/gas/NEWS	
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ 
 -*- text -*-
 
-* Add a configure option --enable-compressed-debug-sections=[yes|no] to decide
-  whether DWARF debug sections should be compressed by default.
+* Add a configure option --enable-compressed-debug-sections={all,gas} to
+  decide whether DWARF debug sections should be compressed by default.
 
 * Add support for the ARC EM/HS, and ARC600/700 architectures.  Remove
   assembler support for Argonaut RISC architectures.
--- a/gas/configure.ac	
+++ a/gas/configure.ac	
@@ -64,18 +64,6 @@ if test x$ac_checking != x ; then
   AC_DEFINE(ENABLE_CHECKING, 1, [Define if you want run-time sanity checks.])
 fi
 
-# PR gas/19109
-# Decide the default method for compressing debug sections.
-ac_default_compressed_debug_sections=unset
-# Provide a configure time option to override our default.
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(compressed_debug_sections,
-[  --enable-compressed-debug-sections  compress debug sections by default],
-[case "${enableval}" in
-  yes) ac_default_compressed_debug_sections=yes ;;
-  no)  ac_default_compressed_debug_sections=no ;;
-  *)   ac_default_compressed_debug_sections=unset ;;
-esac])dnl
-
 using_cgen=no
 
 AM_BINUTILS_WARNINGS
@@ -548,9 +536,12 @@ changequote([,])dnl
 
 done
 
-if test x$ac_default_compressed_debug_sections == xyes ; then
-  AC_DEFINE(DEFAULT_FLAG_COMPRESS_DEBUG, 1, [Define if you want compressed debug sections by default.])
-fi
+case x${enable_compressed_debug_sections} in
+x*gas*|xall)
+  AC_DEFINE(DEFAULT_FLAG_COMPRESS_DEBUG, 1,
+	    [Define if you want compressed debug sections by default.])
+  ;;
+esac
 
 # Turn on all targets if possible
 if test ${all_targets} = "yes"; then