diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cb2ccd8..995c8f0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ include config.mk
 include colors.mk
 include common.mk
 
-OSOURCE    = $(filter-out css-definitions.c, $(filter-out dbus-interface-definitions.c, $(wildcard *.c))) $(wildcard synctex/*.c)
+OSOURCE    = $(filter-out css-definitions.c, $(filter-out dbus-interface-definitions.c, $(wildcard *.c)))
 HEADER     = $(wildcard *.h) $(wildcard synctex/*.h)
 HEADERINST = version.h document.h macros.h page.h types.h plugin-api.h links.h
 
@@ -23,6 +23,22 @@ LIBS     += $(MAGIC_LIB)
 CPPFLAGS += -DWITH_MAGIC
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(WITH_SYSTEM_SYNCTEX),0)
+INCS   += $(SYNCTEX_INC)
+LIBS   += $(SYNCTEX_LIB)
+else
+INCS   += $(ZLIB_INC)
+LIBS   += $(ZLIB_LIB)
+SOURCE += $(wildcard synctex/*.c)
+
+ifeq (,$(findstring -Isynctex,${CPPFLAGS}))
+CPPFLAGS += -Isynctex
+endif
+ifeq (,$(findstring -DSYNCTEX_VERBOSE=0,${CPPFLAGS}))
+CPPFLAGS += -DSYNCTEX_VERBOSE=0
+endif
+endif
+
 ifneq ($(wildcard ${VALGRIND_SUPPRESSION_FILE}),)
 VALGRIND_ARGUMENTS += --suppressions=${VALGRIND_SUPPRESSION_FILE}
 endif
@@ -36,13 +52,6 @@ endif
 ifeq (,$(findstring -DLOCALEDIR,${CPPFLAGS}))
 CPPFLAGS += -DLOCALEDIR=\"${LOCALEDIR}\"
 endif
-ifeq (,$(findstring -Isynctex,${CPPFLAGS}))
-CPPFLAGS += -Isynctex
-endif
-ifeq (,$(findstring -DSYNCTEX_VERBOSE=0,${CPPFLAGS}))
-CPPFLAGS += -DSYNCTEX_VERBOSE=0
-endif
-
 
 OBJECTS  = $(patsubst %.c, %.o,  $(SOURCE)) dbus-interface-definitions.o css-definitions.o
 DOBJECTS = $(patsubst %.o, %.do, $(OBJECTS))
diff --git a/config.mk b/config.mk
index df37cfd..947a98c 100644
--- a/config.mk
+++ b/config.mk
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ GTK_PKG_CONFIG_NAME = gtk+-3.0
 # To disable support for the sqlite backend set WITH_SQLITE to 0.
 WITH_SQLITE ?= $(shell (pkg-config --atleast-version=3.5.9 sqlite3 && echo 1) || echo 0)
 
+# synctex
+# To use the embedded copy of the syntex parser set WITH_SYSTEM_SYNCTEX to 0.
+WITH_SYSTEM_SYNCTEX ?= $(shell (pkg-config synctex && echo 1) || echo 0)
+
 # mimetype detection
 # To disable support for mimetype detction with libmagic set WITH_MAGIC to 0.
 WITH_MAGIC ?= 1
@@ -77,11 +81,16 @@ MAGIC_INC ?=
 MAGIC_LIB ?= -lmagic
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(WITH_SYSTEM_SYNCTEX),0)
+SYNCTEX_INC ?= $(shell pkg-config --cflags synctex)
+SYNCTEX_LIB ?= $(shell pkg-config --libs synctex)
+else
 ZLIB_INC ?= $(shell pkg-config --cflags zlib)
 ZLIB_LIB ?= $(shell pkg-config --libs zlib)
+endif
 
-INCS = ${GIRARA_INC} ${GTK_INC} ${GTHREAD_INC} ${GMODULE_INC} ${GLIB_INC} $(ZLIB_INC)
-LIBS = ${GIRARA_LIB} ${GTK_LIB} ${GTHREAD_LIB} ${GMODULE_LIB} ${GLIB_LIB} $(ZLIB_LIB) -lpthread -lm
+INCS = ${GIRARA_INC} ${GTK_INC} ${GTHREAD_INC} ${GMODULE_INC} ${GLIB_INC}
+LIBS = ${GIRARA_LIB} ${GTK_LIB} ${GTHREAD_LIB} ${GMODULE_LIB} ${GLIB_LIB} -lpthread -lm
 
 # flags
 CFLAGS += -std=c99 -pedantic -Wall -Wno-format-zero-length -Wextra $(INCS)