diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index 739149daa..eecfeadec 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ cmake_data_dir="/share/cmake-${cmake_version}"
 cmake_doc_dir="/doc/cmake-${cmake_version}"
 cmake_man_dir="/man"
 cmake_init_file=""
+cmake_bootstrap_system_libs=""
 
 # Determine whether this is a MinGW environment.
 if echo "${cmake_system}" | grep MINGW >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -205,6 +206,10 @@ Configuration:
   --parallel=n            bootstrap cmake in parallel, where n is
                           number of nodes [1]
   --init=FILE             use FILE for cmake initialization
+  --system-libs           use system-installed third-party libraries
+                          (for use only by package maintainers)
+  --no-system-libs        use cmake-provided third-party libraries
+                          (default)
 
 Directory and file names:
   --prefix=PREFIX         install files in tree rooted at PREFIX
@@ -444,6 +449,12 @@ for a in "$@"; do
   if echo $a | grep "^--init=" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null; then
     cmake_init_file=`echo $a | sed "s/^--init=//"`
   fi
+  if echo $a | grep "^--system-libs" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null; then
+    cmake_bootstrap_system_libs="-DCMAKE_USE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES=1"
+  fi
+  if echo $a | grep "^--no-system-libs" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null; then
+    cmake_bootstrap_system_libs="-DCMAKE_USE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES=0"
+  fi
   if echo $a | grep "^--help" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null; then
     cmake_usage
   fi
@@ -1287,7 +1298,7 @@ export CXX
 export MAKE
 
 # Run bootstrap CMake to configure real CMake
-"${cmake_bootstrap_dir}/cmake" "${cmake_source_dir}" "-C${cmake_bootstrap_dir}/InitialCacheFlags.cmake" "-G${cmake_bootstrap_generator}"
+"${cmake_bootstrap_dir}/cmake" "${cmake_source_dir}" "-C${cmake_bootstrap_dir}/InitialCacheFlags.cmake" "-G${cmake_bootstrap_generator}" ${cmake_bootstrap_system_libs}
 RES=$?
 if [ "${RES}" -ne "0" ]; then
   cmake_error 11 "Problem while running initial CMake"