diff --git a/Modules/CMakeFindEclipseCDT4.cmake b/Modules/CMakeFindEclipseCDT4.cmake
index 836e4c9bf..b2a0299b2 100644
--- a/Modules/CMakeFindEclipseCDT4.cmake
+++ b/Modules/CMakeFindEclipseCDT4.cmake
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 FIND_PROGRAM(CMAKE_ECLIPSE_EXECUTABLE NAMES eclipse DOC "The Eclipse executable")
 
+# This variable is used by the Eclipse generator and appended to the make invocation commands.
+SET(CMAKE_ECLIPSE_MAKE_ARGUMENTS "" CACHE STRING "Additional command line arguments when Eclipse invokes make. Enter e.g. -j<some_number> to get parallel builds")
 
 # The Eclipse generator needs to know the standard include path
 # so that Eclipse ca find the headers at runtime and parsing etc. works better
diff --git a/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.cxx b/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.cxx
index 8f89b5eb7..502fefaad 100644
--- a/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.cxx
@@ -734,6 +734,8 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
     ;
   emmited.clear();
   const std::string make = mf->GetRequiredDefinition("CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM");
+  const std::string makeArgs = mf->GetSafeDefinition(
+                                               "CMAKE_ECLIPSE_MAKE_ARGUMENTS");
   cmGlobalGenerator* generator
     = const_cast<cmGlobalGenerator*>(this->GlobalGenerator);
 
@@ -794,7 +796,7 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
            }
          if (insertTarget)
            {
-           this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, subdir, ": ");
+           this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, makeArgs, subdir, ": ");
            }
          }
          break;
@@ -809,7 +811,7 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
            break;
            }
 
-         this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, subdir, ": ");
+         this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, makeArgs, subdir, ": ");
          break;
        case cmTarget::EXECUTABLE:
        case cmTarget::STATIC_LIBRARY:
@@ -818,10 +820,10 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
          {
          const char* prefix = (ti->second.GetType()==cmTarget::EXECUTABLE ?
                                                           "[exe] " : "[lib] ");
-         this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, subdir, prefix);
+         this->AppendTarget(fout, ti->first, make, makeArgs, subdir, prefix);
          std::string fastTarget = ti->first;
          fastTarget += "/fast";
-         this->AppendTarget(fout, fastTarget, make, subdir, prefix);
+         this->AppendTarget(fout, fastTarget, make, makeArgs, subdir, prefix);
          }
          break;
         // ignore these:
@@ -836,11 +838,11 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
     // insert the all and clean targets in every subdir
     if (!allTarget.empty())
       {
-      this->AppendTarget(fout, allTarget, make, subdir, ": ");
+      this->AppendTarget(fout, allTarget, make, makeArgs, subdir, ": ");
       }
     if (!cleanTarget.empty())
       {
-      this->AppendTarget(fout, cleanTarget, make, subdir, ": ");
+      this->AppendTarget(fout, cleanTarget, make, makeArgs, subdir, ": ");
       }
 
     //insert rules for compiling, preprocessing and assembling individual files
@@ -860,7 +862,7 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::CreateCProjectFile() const
         {
         prefix = "[pre] ";
         }
-      this->AppendTarget(fout, *fit, make, subdir, prefix);
+      this->AppendTarget(fout, *fit, make, makeArgs, subdir, prefix);
       }
     }
 
@@ -993,6 +995,7 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator
 void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::AppendTarget(cmGeneratedFileStream& fout,
                                                const std::string&     target,
                                                const std::string&     make,
+                                               const std::string&     makeArgs,
                                                const std::string&     path,
                                                const char* prefix)
 {
@@ -1003,7 +1006,7 @@ void cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::AppendTarget(cmGeneratedFileStream& fout,
     "<buildCommand>"
     << cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator::GetEclipsePath(make)
     << "</buildCommand>\n"
-    "<buildArguments/>\n"
+    "<buildArguments>"  << makeArgs << "</buildArguments>\n"
     "<buildTarget>" << target << "</buildTarget>\n"
     "<stopOnError>true</stopOnError>\n"
     "<useDefaultCommand>false</useDefaultCommand>\n"
diff --git a/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.h b/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.h
index 2ad599d14..99e69c42a 100644
--- a/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.h
+++ b/Source/cmExtraEclipseCDT4Generator.h
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ private:
   static void AppendTarget         (cmGeneratedFileStream& fout,
                                     const std::string&     target,
                                     const std::string&     make,
+                                    const std::string&     makeArguments,
                                     const std::string&     path,
                                     const char* prefix = "");
   static void AppendScannerProfile (cmGeneratedFileStream& fout,