diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index d8c1382c2..91f4e0cd2 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,12 +70,17 @@ endfunction (find_required_program)
 
 # Options that can be passed to CMake using 'cmake -DKEY=VALUE'.
 option ("BUILD_GEOCODER" "Build the offline phone number geocoder" "ON")
+option ("USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS" "Use alternate formats" "ON")
 option ("USE_BOOST" "Use Boost" "ON")
 option ("USE_ICU_REGEXP" "Use ICU regexp engine" "ON")
 option ("USE_LITE_METADATA" "Use lite metadata" "OFF")
 option ("USE_RE2" "Use RE2" "OFF")
 option ("USE_STD_MAP" "Force the use of std::map" "OFF")
 
+if (${USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS} STREQUAL "ON")
+  add_definitions ("-DI18N_PHONENUMBERS_USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS")
+endif ()
+
 # Find all the required libraries and programs.
 if (${USE_BOOST} STREQUAL "ON")
   add_definitions ("-DI18N_PHONENUMBERS_USE_BOOST")
@@ -223,9 +228,11 @@ if (${USE_ICU_REGEXP} STREQUAL "ON")
   add_definitions ("-DI18N_PHONENUMBERS_USE_ICU_REGEXP")
   list (APPEND SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/regexp_adapter_icu.cc")
   # The phone number matcher needs ICU.
-  list (APPEND SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/alternate_format.cc")
   list (APPEND SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatch.cc")
   list (APPEND SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatcher.cc")
+  if (${USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS} STREQUAL "ON")
+    list (APPEND SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/alternate_format.cc")
+  endif ()
 endif ()
 
 # Library sources excluding the metadata files, since special metadata is used
@@ -298,14 +305,16 @@ add_metadata_gen_target (
 list (APPEND TESTING_LIBRARY_SOURCES "src/phonenumbers/test_metadata.cc")
 
 if (${USE_ICU_REGEXP} STREQUAL "ON")
-  # Add alternate format metadata generation for the phone number matcher
-  set (ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET "generate-alt-format-metadata")
-  add_metadata_gen_target (
-    ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET}
-    "${RESOURCES_DIR}/PhoneNumberAlternateFormats.xml"
-    "alternate_format"
-    "alternate_format"
-  )
+  if (${USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS} STREQUAL "ON")
+    # Add alternate format metadata generation for the phone number matcher.
+    set (ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET "generate-alt-format-metadata")
+    add_metadata_gen_target (
+      ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET}
+      "${RESOURCES_DIR}/PhoneNumberAlternateFormats.xml"
+      "alternate_format"
+      "alternate_format"
+    )
+  endif ()
 endif ()
 
 if (NOT WIN32)
@@ -317,7 +326,9 @@ include_directories ("src")
 # Build a static library (without -fPIC).
 add_library (phonenumber STATIC ${SOURCES})
 if (${USE_ICU_REGEXP} STREQUAL "ON")
-  add_dependencies (phonenumber ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET})
+  if (${USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS} STREQUAL "ON")
+    add_dependencies (phonenumber ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET})
+  endif ()
 endif ()
 
 if (${BUILD_GEOCODER} STREQUAL "ON")
@@ -349,7 +360,9 @@ endif ()
 if (BUILD_SHARED_LIB)
   add_library (phonenumber-shared SHARED ${SOURCES})
   if (${USE_ICU_REGEXP} STREQUAL "ON")
-    add_dependencies (phonenumber ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET})
+    if (${USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS} STREQUAL "ON")
+      add_dependencies (phonenumber ${ALT_FORMAT_METADATA_TARGET})
+    endif ()
   endif ()
   set_target_properties (phonenumber-shared
     PROPERTIES
diff --git a/cpp/README b/cpp/README
index 1cee32c07..99e0a5c62 100644
--- a/cpp/README
+++ b/cpp/README
@@ -232,10 +232,12 @@ Supported build parameters
   Build parameters can be specified invoking CMake with '-DKEY=VALUE' or using a
   CMake user interface (ccmake or cmake-gui).
 
-  USE_BOOST         = ON | OFF [ON]  -- Use Boost. This is only needed in
-                                        multi-threaded environments.
-  USE_ICU_REGEXP    = ON | OFF [ON]  -- Use ICU regexp engine.
-  USE_LITE_METADATA = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Generates smaller metadata that doesn't
-                                        include example numbers.
-  USE_RE2           = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Use RE2.
-  USE_STD_MAP       = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Force the use of std::map.
+  USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS = ON | OFF [ON]  -- Use alternate formats for the phone
+                                            number matcher.
+  USE_BOOST             = ON | OFF [ON]  -- Use Boost. This is only needed in
+                                            multi-threaded environments.
+  USE_ICU_REGEXP        = ON | OFF [ON]  -- Use ICU regexp engine.
+  USE_LITE_METADATA     = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Generates smaller metadata that
+                                            doesn't include example numbers.
+  USE_RE2               = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Use RE2.
+  USE_STD_MAP           = ON | OFF [OFF] -- Force the use of std::map.
diff --git a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatcher.cc b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatcher.cc
index 94462261a..164221d62 100644
--- a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatcher.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/phonenumbermatcher.cc
@@ -160,13 +160,18 @@ bool AllNumberGroupsRemainGrouped(
 }
 
 bool LoadAlternateFormats(PhoneMetadataCollection* alternate_formats) {
+#if defined(I18N_PHONENUMBERS_USE_ALTERNATE_FORMATS)
   if (!alternate_formats->ParseFromArray(alternate_format_get(),
                                          alternate_format_size())) {
     cerr << "Could not parse binary data." << endl;
     return false;
   }
   return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
 }
+
 }  // namespace
 
 class PhoneNumberMatcherRegExps : public Singleton<PhoneNumberMatcherRegExps> {