diff --git a/src/configure b/src/configure
index d4509a04c05..4a03f7ade87 100755
--- a/src/configure
+++ b/src/configure
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 # ./configure --atlas-root=../tools/ATLAS/build
 # ./configure --use-cuda=no   # disable CUDA detection (will build cpu-only
 #                             # version of kaldi even on CUDA-enabled machine
+# ./configure --use-cuda --cudatk-dir=/usr/local/cuda/ --cuda-arch=-arch=sm_70
+#        # Use cuda in /usr/local/cuda and set the arch to sm_70
 # ./configure --static --fst-root=/opt/cross/armv8hf \
 # --atlas-root=/opt/cross/armv8hf --host=armv8-rpi3-linux-gnueabihf
 #        # Cross compile for armv8hf, this assumes that you have openfst built
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ Configuration options:
   --shared              Build and link against shared libraries [default=no]
   --use-cuda            Build with CUDA [default=yes]
   --cudatk-dir=DIR      CUDA toolkit directory
+  --cuda-arch=FLAGS     Override the default CUDA_ARCH flags.  See https://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-compiler-driver-nvcc/index.html#nvcc-examples.
   --double-precision    Build with BaseFloat set to double if yes [default=no],
                         mostly useful for testing purposes.
   --static-fst          Build with static OpenFst libraries [default=no]
@@ -114,8 +117,13 @@ function rel2abs {
   fi
 }
 
+function read_value {
+  local val=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+  echo $val
+}
+
 function read_dirname {
-  local dir_name=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+  local dir_name=`read_value $1`
   local retval=`rel2abs $dir_name`
   [ -z $retval ] && echo "Bad option '$1': no such directory" && exit 1;
   echo $retval
@@ -421,15 +429,17 @@ function configure_cuda {
       fi
     fi
 
-    case $CUDA_VERSION in
-      5_5) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35" ;;
-      6_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50" ;;
-      7_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53" ;;
-      8_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62" ;;
-      9_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62 -gencode arch=compute_70,code=sm_70" ;;
-      10_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62 -gencode arch=compute_70,code=sm_70 -gencode arch=compute_72,code=sm_72 -gencode arch=compute_75,code=sm_75" ;;
-      *) echo "Unsupported CUDA_VERSION (CUDA_VERSION=$CUDA_VERSION), please report it to Kaldi mailing list, together with 'nvcc -h' or 'ptxas -h' which lists allowed -gencode values..."; exit 1 ;;
-    esac
+    if [ -z "$CUDA_ARCH" ]; then
+      case $CUDA_VERSION in
+        5_5) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35" ;;
+        6_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50" ;;
+        7_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53" ;;
+        8_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62" ;;
+        9_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62 -gencode arch=compute_70,code=sm_70" ;;
+        10_*) CUDA_ARCH="-gencode arch=compute_30,code=sm_30 -gencode arch=compute_35,code=sm_35 -gencode arch=compute_50,code=sm_50 -gencode arch=compute_53,code=sm_53 -gencode arch=compute_60,code=sm_60 -gencode arch=compute_61,code=sm_61 -gencode arch=compute_62,code=sm_62 -gencode arch=compute_70,code=sm_70 -gencode arch=compute_72,code=sm_72 -gencode arch=compute_75,code=sm_75" ;;
+        *) echo "Unsupported CUDA_VERSION (CUDA_VERSION=$CUDA_VERSION), please report it to Kaldi mailing list, together with 'nvcc -h' or 'ptxas -h' which lists allowed -gencode values..."; exit 1 ;;
+      esac
+    fi
 
     echo "Using CUDA toolkit $CUDATKDIR (nvcc compiler and runtime libraries)"
     echo >> kaldi.mk
@@ -939,7 +949,7 @@ do
     mkl_threading=sequential;
     shift ;;
   --mkl-threading=*)
-    mkl_threading=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+    mkl_threading=`read_value $1`;
     threaded_atlas=true;
     shift ;;
   --fst-root=*)
@@ -970,19 +980,22 @@ do
     OMPLIBDIR=`read_dirname $1`;
     shift ;;
   --mathlib=*)
-    MATHLIB=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+    MATHLIB=`read_value $1`;
     shift ;;
   --cudatk-dir=*)
     CUDATKDIR=`read_dirname $1`;
     shift ;; #CUDA is used in src/cudamatrix and src/nnet{,bin} only
+  --cuda-arch=*)
+    CUDA_ARCH=`read_value $1`;
+    shift;;
   --fst-version=*)
-    OPENFST_VER=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+    OPENFST_VER=`read_value $1`;
     shift;;
   --host=*)
     # The type of system where built programs and libraries will run.
     # It should be in the format cpu-vendor-os. If specified, this script
     # will infer the target architecture from the specified host triple.
-    HOST=`expr "X$1" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)'`;
+    HOST=`read_value $1`;
     shift ;;
   --android-incdir=*)
     android=true;