diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3b9743d7d..6bd8b5134 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -89,19 +89,26 @@ except IOError:
 
 parser.add_option('--prefix',                dest='prefix', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='location of (links to) DAMASK executables [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-fc',               dest='compiler', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-FC','--with-fc',               
+                                             dest='compiler', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='F90 compiler [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-FFTW-dir',         dest='fftwRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-FFTW-dir','--with-fftw-dir',         
+                                             dest='fftwRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='root directory of FFTW [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-MSC-dir',          dest='mscRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-MSC-dir','--with-msc-dir',          
+                                             dest='mscRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='root directory of MSC.Marc/Mentat [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-HDF5-dir',         dest='hdf5Root', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-HDF5-dir','--with-hdf5-dir',         
+                                             dest='hdf5Root', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='root directory of HDF5 [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-OMP-threads',      dest='threads', type='int', metavar='int',
+parser.add_option('--with-OMP-threads','--with-omp-threads',      
+                                             dest='threads', type='int', metavar='int',
                                              help='number of openMP threads [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-BLAS-type',        dest='blasType', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-BLAS-type','--with-blas-type',         
+                                             dest='blasType', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='type of BLAS/LAPACK library [%default]')
-parser.add_option('--with-BLAS-dir',         dest='blasRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
+parser.add_option('--with-BLAS-dir','--with-blas-dir',        
+                                             dest='blasRoot', type='string', metavar='string',
                                              help='root directory of BLAS/LAPACK library [%default]')
 parser.add_option('--with-spectral-options', dest='spectraloptions', type='string', action='extend', metavar='<string LIST>',
                                              help='options for compilation of spectral solver')