diff --git a/cmake/findDependencies.cmake b/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
index 9640e2374..389671848 100644
--- a/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
@@ -8,3 +8,12 @@ endif()
 
 set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR ON)
 set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC OFF)
+
+if (NOT ${USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT} STREQUAL "Off")
+    find_package(PythonInterp)
+    if (NOT ${PYTHONINTERP_FOUND})
+        message(WARNING "No python interpreter found. Therefore, the match compiler is switched off.")
+        set(USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT "Off")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
diff --git a/cmake/options.cmake b/cmake/options.cmake
index 96fd02ce2..400b01c08 100644
--- a/cmake/options.cmake
+++ b/cmake/options.cmake
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ option(ANALYZE_DATAFLOW     "Clang dynamic analyzer: general dynamic dataflow an
 option(WARNINGS_ARE_ERRORS  "Treat warnings as errors"                                      OFF)
 option(WARNINGS_ANSI_ISO    "Issue all the mandatory diagnostics Listed in C standard"      ON)
 
+set(USE_MATCHCOMPILER "Auto" CACHE STRING "Usage of match compliler")
+set_property(CACHE USE_MATCHCOMPILER PROPERTY STRINGS Auto Off On Verify) 
+if (USE_MATCHCOMPILER STREQUAL "Auto")
+    if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Release")
+        set(USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT "On")
+    else()
+        set(USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT "Off")
+    endif()
+else()
+    set(USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT ${USE_MATCHCOMPILER})
+endif()
+
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS    "Build shared libraries"                                        ON)
 option(BUILD_TESTS          "Build tests"                                                   OFF)
 option(BUILD_GUI            "Build the qt application"                                      OFF)
diff --git a/cmake/printInfo.cmake b/cmake/printInfo.cmake
index 309e60cc5..7f1fb5b96 100644
--- a/cmake/printInfo.cmake
+++ b/cmake/printInfo.cmake
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ message( STATUS "ANALYZE_DATAFLOW =      ${ANALYZE_DATAFLOW}" )
 message( STATUS "WARNINGS_ANSI_ISO =     ${WARNINGS_ANSI_ISO}" )
 message( STATUS "WARNINGS_ARE_ERRORS =   ${WARNINGS_ARE_ERRORS}" )
 message( STATUS )
+message( STATUS "USE_MATCHCOMPILER =     ${USE_MATCHCOMPILER}" )
+message( STATUS "USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT = ${USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT}" )
+message( STATUS )
 message( STATUS "BUILD_SHARED_LIBS =     ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS}" )
 message( STATUS "BUILD_TESTS =           ${BUILD_TESTS}" )
 message( STATUS "BUILD_GUI =             ${BUILD_GUI}" )
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 9f187bf4a..b6275b22a 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,38 @@ include_directories(SYSTEM ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml/)
 file(GLOB_RECURSE hdrs "*.h")
 file(GLOB_RECURSE srcs "*.cpp")
 
-add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} ${srcs} ${hdrs})
+function(build_src output filename)
+    get_filename_component(file ${filename} NAME)
+    set(outfile ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/build/mc_${file})
+    set(${output} ${${output}} ${outfile} PARENT_SCOPE)
+    if (${USE_MATCHCOMPILER} STREQUAL "Verify")
+        set(verify_option "--verify")
+    endif()
+    add_custom_command(
+        OUTPUT ${outfile}
+        COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/matchcompiler.py" 
+                --read-dir="${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}" 
+                --prefix="mc_" 
+                --line 
+                ${verify_option} 
+                ${file}
+        DEPENDS ${file} 
+        DEPENDS ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/matchcompiler.py
+    )
+    set_source_files_properties(${outfile} PROPERTIES GENERATED TRUE)
+endfunction()
+
+foreach(file ${srcs})
+    build_src(srcs_build ${file})
+endforeach()
+
+if (NOT ${USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT} STREQUAL "Off")
+    set(srcs_lib ${srcs_build})
+else()
+    set(srcs_lib ${srcs})
+endif()
+
+add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} ${srcs_lib} ${hdrs})
 
 if (HAVE_RULES)
     target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} pcre)
diff --git a/tools/matchcompiler.py b/tools/matchcompiler.py
index 648674a36..4f596beda 100755
--- a/tools/matchcompiler.py
+++ b/tools/matchcompiler.py
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ class MatchCompiler:
         line = line.replace('MatchCompiler::makeConstStringEnd', '")')
         return line
 
-    def convertFile(self, srcname, destname):
+    def convertFile(self, srcname, destname, line_directive):
         self._reset()
 
         fin = open(srcname, "rt")
@@ -631,25 +631,17 @@ class MatchCompiler:
         for function in self._rawMatchFunctions:
             strFunctions += function
 
+        lineno = ''
+        if line_directive:
+            lineno = '#line 1 "' + srcname + '"\n'
+
         fout = open(destname, 'wt')
-        fout.write(header + strFunctions + code)
+        fout.write(header + strFunctions + lineno + code)
         fout.close()
 
 
 def main():
     # Main program
-    build_dir = 'build'
-
-    # Check if we are invoked from the right place
-    if not os.path.exists('lib') and not os.path.exists('samples'):
-        print('Please invoke from the top level cppcheck source dir. Example: tools/matchcompiler.py')
-        sys.exit(-1)
-
-    # Create build directory if needed
-    if not os.path.exists(build_dir):
-        os.makedirs(build_dir)
-    if not os.path.isdir(build_dir):
-        raise Exception(build_dir + ' is not a directory')
 
     # Argument handling
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
@@ -658,15 +650,49 @@ def main():
                         help='verify compiled matches against on-the-fly parser. Slow!')
     parser.add_argument('--show-skipped', action='store_true', default=False,
                         help='show skipped (non-static) patterns')
+    parser.add_argument('--read-dir', default="lib", 
+                        help='directory from which files are read')
+    parser.add_argument('--write-dir', default="build",
+                        help='directory into which files are written')
+    parser.add_argument('--prefix', default="",
+                        help='prefix for build files')
+    parser.add_argument('--line', action='store_true', default=False,
+                        help='add line directive to input files into build files')
+    parser.add_argument('file', nargs='*',
+                        help='file to complile')
     args = parser.parse_args()
+    lib_dir = args.read_dir
+    build_dir = args.write_dir
+    line_directive = args.line
+    files = args.file
+
+    # Check if we are invoked from the right place
+    if not os.path.exists(lib_dir):
+        print('Directory "' + lib_dir + '"not found.')
+        sys.exit(-1)
+
+    # Create build directory if needed
+    if not os.path.exists(build_dir):
+        os.makedirs(build_dir)
+    if not os.path.isdir(build_dir):
+        raise Exception(build_dir + ' is not a directory')
 
     mc = MatchCompiler(verify_mode=args.verify,
                        show_skipped=args.show_skipped)
 
-    # convert all lib/*.cpp files
-    for f in glob.glob('lib/*.cpp'):
-        print(f + ' => ' + build_dir + '/' + f[4:])
-        mc.convertFile(f, build_dir + '/' + f[4:])
+    if not files:
+        # select all *.cpp files in lib_dir
+        for f in glob.glob(lib_dir + '/*.cpp'):
+            files.append(f[len(lib_dir)+1:])
+
+    # convert files
+    for fi in files:
+        pi = lib_dir + '/' + fi
+        fo = args.prefix + fi
+        po = build_dir + '/' + fo
+        print(pi + ' => ' + po)
+        mc.convertFile(pi, po, line_directive)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()
+