diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a2738a9..277bad5 100755
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(broken-aliases,
 [  --enable-broken-aliases enable aliases as distinct interfaces for Linux 2.2.X])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(snmp,
-[  --enable-snmp           enable SNMP support])
+[  --enable-snmp=ARG       enable SNMP support (smux or agentx)])
 AC_ARG_WITH(libpam,
 [  --with-libpam           use libpam for PAM support in vtysh])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(tcp-zebra,
@@ -1363,7 +1363,7 @@
 dnl ------------------
 dnl check Net-SNMP library
 dnl ------------------
-if test "${enable_snmp}" = "yes"; then
+if test "${enable_snmp}" != ""; then
    AC_PATH_TOOL([NETSNMP_CONFIG], [net-snmp-config], [no])
    if test x"$NETSNMP_CONFIG" = x"no"; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([--enable-snmp given but unable to find net-snmp-config])
@@ -1382,6 +1382,20 @@
      AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
      AC_MSG_ERROR([--enable-snmp given but not usable])])
    AC_DEFINE(HAVE_SNMP,,SNMP)
+   case "${enable_snmp}" in
+     yes)
+      SNMP_METHOD=agentx
+      ;;
+     smux|agentx)
+      SNMP_METHOD="${enable_snmp}"
+      ;;
+     *)
+      AC_MSG_ERROR([--enable-snmp given with an unknown method (${enable_snmp}). Use smux or agentx])
+      ;;
+   esac
+   AH_TEMPLATE([SNMP_SMUX], [Use SNMP SMUX to interface with snmpd])
+   AH_TEMPLATE([SNMP_AGENTX], [Use SNMP AgentX to interface with snmpd])
+   AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(AS_TR_CPP(SNMP_${SNMP_METHOD}),,SNMP method to interface with snmpd)
 fi
 
 dnl ---------------------------