diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 878aeac1..4fe8f2b0 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 UNAME=$(shell uname)
 DEBUG=1
+ASAN=0
 INSTALL=install
 LN=ln
 PKG_CONFIG=pkg-config
@@ -42,6 +43,11 @@ else
 CFLAGS ?= -pipe -O2 -freorder-blocks-and-partition
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(ASAN),1)
+CFLAGS += -fsanitize=address -DI3_ASAN_ENABLED
+LDFLAGS += -fsanitize=address
+endif
+
 # Default LDFLAGS that users should be able to override
 LDFLAGS ?= $(as_needed_LDFLAG)