diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cae2a23a361..664fafde0ca 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 BUILDTYPE ?= Release
 PYTHON ?= python
+NINJA ?= ninja
 DESTDIR ?=
 SIGN ?=
 
@@ -22,23 +23,35 @@ endif
 # to check for changes.
 .PHONY: node node_g
 
+ifeq ($(USE_NINJA),1)
+node: config.gypi
+	$(NINJA) -C out/Release/
+	ln -fs out/Release/node node
+
+node_g: config.gypi
+	$(NINJA) -C out/Debug/
+	ln -fs out/Debug/node $@
+else
 node: config.gypi out/Makefile
 	$(MAKE) -C out BUILDTYPE=Release V=$(V)
 	ln -fs out/Release/node node
 
 node_g: config.gypi out/Makefile
 	$(MAKE) -C out BUILDTYPE=Debug V=$(V)
-	ln -fs out/Debug/node node_g
+	ln -fs out/Debug/node $@
+endif
+
+out/Makefile: common.gypi deps/uv/uv.gyp deps/http_parser/http_parser.gyp deps/zlib/zlib.gyp deps/v8/build/common.gypi deps/v8/tools/gyp/v8.gyp node.gyp config.gypi
+ifeq ($(USE_NINJA),1)
+	touch out/Makefile
+	$(PYTHON) tools/gyp_node -f ninja
+else
+	$(PYTHON) tools/gyp_node -f make
+endif
 
 config.gypi: configure
 	./configure
 
-out/Debug/node:
-	$(MAKE) -C out BUILDTYPE=Debug V=$(V)
-
-out/Makefile: common.gypi deps/uv/uv.gyp deps/http_parser/http_parser.gyp deps/zlib/zlib.gyp deps/v8/build/common.gypi deps/v8/tools/gyp/v8.gyp node.gyp config.gypi
-	$(PYTHON) tools/gyp_node -f make
-
 install: all
 	$(PYTHON) tools/install.py $@ $(DESTDIR)
 
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3bf9b04879e..50f265b237a 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ parser.add_option("--with-arm-float-abi",
 
 parser.add_option("--ninja",
     action="store_true",
-    dest="ninja_build",
+    dest="use_ninja",
     help="Generate files for the ninja build system")
 
 (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
@@ -459,10 +459,16 @@ def write(filename, data):
 write('config.gypi', "# Do not edit. Generated by the configure script.\n" +
   pprint.pformat(output, indent=2) + "\n")
 
-write('config.mk', "# Do not edit. Generated by the configure script.\n" +
-  ("BUILDTYPE=%s\n" % ('Debug' if options.debug else 'Release')))
+config = {
+  'BUILDTYPE': 'Debug' if options.debug else 'Release',
+  'USE_NINJA': str(int(options.use_ninja or 0)),
+}
+config = '\n'.join(map('='.join, config.iteritems())) + '\n'
 
-if options.ninja_build:
+write('config.mk',
+      '# Do not edit. Generated by the configure script.\n' + config)
+
+if options.use_ninja:
   gyp_args = ['-f', 'ninja']
 elif os.name == 'nt':
   gyp_args = ['-f', 'msvs', '-G', 'msvs_version=2010']