diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 991d831763..45972c8b83 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -206,8 +206,17 @@ AC_SUBST(GSTPB_PREFIX)
 
 dnl GTK is optional and used in examples
 HAVE_GTK=NO
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-x11-3.0, HAVE_GTK=yes,
-    [PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-x11-2.0 >= 2.14.0, HAVE_GTK=yes,HAVE_GTK=no)])
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([which gtk+ version to compile examples against (optional)])
+AC_ARG_WITH([gtk],
+  AC_HELP_STRING([--with-gtk=3.0|2.0],
+                 [which gtk+ version to compile against (default: 2.0)]),
+  [case "$with_gtk" in
+      2.0|3.0) ;;
+      *) AC_MSG_ERROR([invalid gtk+ version specified]);;
+  esac],
+  [with_gtk=2.0])
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$with_gtk])
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-x11-$with_gtk, HAVE_GTK=yes, HAVE_GTK=no)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GTK, test "x$HAVE_GTK" = "xyes")
 
 dnl Needed for GtkBuilder to autoconnect signals