diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index bacdc3dc7f093142f1b6f1cb1f108164f9975074..da7c689427712d6e1e9752016db2ade8871e4650 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ lib/_autoconf.py: Makefile stamp-directories
 	  echo "KVM_PATH = '$(KVM_PATH)'"; \
 	  echo "KVM_MIGRATION_PORT = '$(KVM_MIGRATION_PORT)'"; \
 	  echo "SOCAT_PATH = '$(SOCAT_PATH)'"; \
+	  echo "LVM_STRIPECOUNT = $(LVM_STRIPECOUNT)" ; \
 	} > $@
 
 $(REPLACE_VARS_SED): Makefile stamp-directories
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 58de2f3bbf66c2e063f791611223c57d795b51ab..c04ad5e0475213c4dd1ab2535b6f9454660af38a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -119,6 +119,16 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([socat-path],
   [socat_path="/usr/bin/socat"])
 AC_SUBST(SOCAT_PATH, $socat_path)
 
+# ---with-lvm-stripecount=...
+AC_ARG_WITH([lvm-stripecount],
+  [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-lvm-stripecount=NUM],
+    [the number of stripes to use for LVM volumes]
+    [ (default is 3)]
+  )],
+  [lvm_stripecount="$withval"],
+  [lvm_stripecount="3"])
+AC_SUBST(LVM_STRIPECOUNT, $lvm_stripecount)
+
 # Check common programs
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_LN_S
diff --git a/lib/constants.py b/lib/constants.py
index d9edc139d835ffa96db84da0a009f7774721ff2e..3949f56b7634841e0cd498a7c1dffad91c86510b 100644
--- a/lib/constants.py
+++ b/lib/constants.py
@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ DEFAULT_VG = "xenvg"
 BIND_ADDRESS_GLOBAL = "0.0.0.0"
 MIN_VG_SIZE = 20480
 DEFAULT_MAC_PREFIX = "aa:00:00"
+LVM_STRIPECOUNT = _autoconf.LVM_STRIPECOUNT
 
 # RPC constants
 (RPC_ENCODING_NONE,