diff --git a/docs/installation.rst b/docs/installation.rst
index 6f488b524..7d4f8735c 100644
--- a/docs/installation.rst
+++ b/docs/installation.rst
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ Build Options
   automated build systems that configure the proper paths in the
   environment variables (e.g. Buildroot).
 
+* Build flag: ``--disable-osx-tcltk-framework``. Skips linking against
+  the OSX system TCL/TK frameworks for systems that have alternate
+  versions of the libraries installed. 
+
 * Build flag: ``--debug``. Adds a debugging flag to the include and
   library search process to dump all paths searched for and found to
   stdout.
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a7a73473f..247af5508 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -149,11 +149,14 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
         ('enable-%s' % x, None, 'Enable support for %s' % x) for x in feature
     ] + [
         ('disable-platform-guessing', None, 'Disable platform guessing on Linux'),
+        ('disable-osx-tcltk-framework', None,
+             'Disable linking against system tcl/tk frameworks on OSX'),
         ('debug', None, 'Debug logging')
     ]
 
     def initialize_options(self):
         self.disable_platform_guessing = None
+        self.disable_osx_tcltk_framework = None
         build_ext.initialize_options(self)
         for x in self.feature:
             setattr(self, 'disable_%s' % x, None)
@@ -644,7 +647,7 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
                                   define_macros=defs))
 
         if feature.tcl and feature.tk:
-            if sys.platform == "darwin":
+            if sys.platform == "darwin" and not self.disable_osx_tcltk_framework:
                 # locate Tcl/Tk frameworks
                 frameworks = []
                 framework_roots = [