diff --git a/build-pcre.txt b/build-pcre.txt
index b7ebf7b77..28893a92e 100644
--- a/build-pcre.txt
+++ b/build-pcre.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+PCRE is a library that is used by the optional "rules" feature. (It adds
+some additional features to the command line client.) It's readily available
+on Linux and Mac OS X, but must be obtained separately for Windows.
+
+If you're using qmake to generate makefiles, the following behavior applies:
+
+- If you're not on Windows, it assumes by default that you have PCRE and want
+    to enable rules support.
+
+- If you're not on Windows, you can disable rules support (removing the PCRE
+    dependency) by passing HAVE_RULES=no to qmake.
+
+- If you are on Windows, but have PCRE available, you can enable rules support
+    by passing HAVE_RULES=yes to qmake.
+
+    - Note: This includes using build.bat since it calls qmake - to use PCRE and
+        build.bat, you need to run set HAVE_RULES=yes before each run of build.bat
+
 
 Some temporary build instructions. This is work in progress.
 
diff --git a/build.bat b/build.bat
index e4abd27e5..326e1a7d2 100644
--- a/build.bat
+++ b/build.bat
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ REM  where <target> is any of cppcheck/gui/tests/all
 REM        release or debug is the configuration
 REM  all-target builds both cppcheck and gui.
 REM
+REM Run the command before build.bat to enable rules using pcre:
+REM   set HAVE_RULES=yes
+REM
 REM TODO:
 REM  - run tests too
 
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ goto help
 
 :cppcheck
 cd cli
-qmake -config %TARGET%
+qmake -config %TARGET% HAVE_RULES=%HAVE_RULES%
 %MAKE%
 cd ..
 if "%1" == "all" goto gui
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ goto end
 
 :gui
 cd gui
-qmake -config %TARGET%
+qmake -config %TARGET% HAVE_RULES=%HAVE_RULES%
 %MAKE%
 lrelease gui.pro
 cd ..
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ goto end
 
 :tests
 cd test
-qmake -config %TARGET%
+qmake -config %TARGET% HAVE_RULES=%HAVE_RULES%
 %MAKE%
 cd ..
 goto end
diff --git a/cli/cli.pro b/cli/cli.pro
index 3cd4dae43..7003c078e 100644
--- a/cli/cli.pro
+++ b/cli/cli.pro
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ INCLUDEPATH += . ../lib
 OBJECTS_DIR = temp
 CONFIG += warn_on
 CONFIG -= qt app_bundle
-DEFINES += HAVE_RULES
 
 BASEPATH = ../externals/tinyxml/
 include($$PWD/../externals/tinyxml/tinyxml.pri)
diff --git a/lib/lib.pri b/lib/lib.pri
index 831bf7d24..23f05e045 100644
--- a/lib/lib.pri
+++ b/lib/lib.pri
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # no manual edits - this file is autogenerated by dmake
 
-LIBS += -L../externals -lpcre
-INCLUDEPATH += ../externals ../externals/tinyxml
+include($$PWD/pcrerules.pri)
+INCLUDEPATH += ../externals/tinyxml
 HEADERS += $${BASEPATH}check.h \
            $${BASEPATH}check64bit.h \
            $${BASEPATH}checkassignif.h \
diff --git a/lib/pcrerules.pri b/lib/pcrerules.pri
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ff84c5be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pcrerules.pri
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# On non-Windows, if the variable HAVE_RULES is empty, default to using PCRE and enabling rules
+!win32:isEmpty(HAVE_RULES) {
+	CONFIG += use_pcre_rules
+}
+
+# If HAVE_RULES=yes is passed to qmake, use PCRE and enable rules
+contains(HAVE_RULES, [yY][eE][sS]) {
+	CONFIG += use_pcre_rules
+}
+
+use_pcre_rules {
+	DEFINES += HAVE_RULES
+	LIBS += -L../externals -lpcre
+	INCLUDEPATH += ../externals
+	message("Rules enabled - to disable them and remove the dependency on PCRE, pass HAVE_RULES=no to qmake.")
+} else {
+	message("Rules disabled - to enable them, make PCRE available and pass HAVE_RULES=yes to qmake.")
+}
diff --git a/tools/dmake.cpp b/tools/dmake.cpp
index c7745cb7c..6ce39bd78 100644
--- a/tools/dmake.cpp
+++ b/tools/dmake.cpp
@@ -182,8 +182,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         if (fout1.is_open())
         {
             fout1 << "# no manual edits - this file is autogenerated by dmake\n\n";
-            fout1 << "LIBS += -L../externals -lpcre\n";
-            fout1 << "INCLUDEPATH += ../externals ../externals/tinyxml\n";
+            fout1 << "include($$PWD/pcrerules.pri)\n";
+            fout1 << "INCLUDEPATH += ../externals/tinyxml\n";
             fout1 << "HEADERS += $${BASEPATH}check.h \\\n";
             for (unsigned int i = 0; i < libfiles.size(); ++i)
             {