diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 6da057cf..245c033d 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -954,6 +954,7 @@ WITH_THREADS=0
 THREAD_CFLAGS=""
 TEST_THREADS=""
 THREADS_W32=""
+WITH_THREAD_ALLOC=0
 
 if test "$with_threads" = "no" ; then
     echo Disabling multithreaded support
@@ -1017,7 +1018,7 @@ else
     fi
 fi
 if test "$with_thread_alloc" = "yes" -a "$WITH_THREADS" = "1" ; then
-    THREAD_CFLAGS="$THREAD_CFLAGS -DLIBXML_THREAD_ALLOC_ENABLED"
+    WITH_THREAD_ALLOC=1
 fi
 
 AC_SUBST(THREAD_LIBS)
@@ -1025,6 +1026,7 @@ AC_SUBST(BASE_THREAD_LIBS)
 AC_SUBST(WITH_THREADS)
 AC_SUBST(THREAD_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(TEST_THREADS)
+AC_SUBST(WITH_THREAD_ALLOC)
 AM_CONDITIONAL([THREADS_W32],[test -n "$THREADS_W32"])
 
 dnl
diff --git a/include/libxml/xmlversion.h.in b/include/libxml/xmlversion.h.in
index c98e7ca7..00a836fb 100644
--- a/include/libxml/xmlversion.h.in
+++ b/include/libxml/xmlversion.h.in
@@ -97,6 +97,15 @@ XMLPUBFUN void XMLCALL xmlCheckVersion(int version);
 #endif
 #endif
 
+/**
+ * LIBXML_THREAD_ALLOC_ENABLED:
+ *
+ * Whether the allocation hooks are per-thread
+ */
+#if @WITH_THREAD_ALLOC@
+#define LIBXML_THREAD_ALLOC_ENABLED
+#endif
+
 /**
  * LIBXML_TREE_ENABLED:
  *