diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d81a29e9..d4c79c47 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ message("-- XO_ENABLE_DOCS=${XO_ENABLE_DOCS}")
 message("-- XO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES=${XO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES}")
 message("-- XO_ENABLE_VULKAN=${XO_ENABLE_VULKAN}")
 message("-- XO_ENABLE_OPENGL=${XO_ENABLE_OPENGL}")
+message("-- XO_ENABLE_ASM=${XO_ENABLE_ASM}")
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
 #
diff --git a/xo-cmake/cmake/xo_macros/xo_cxx.cmake b/xo-cmake/cmake/xo_macros/xo_cxx.cmake
index 2b916698..31e8b879 100644
--- a/xo-cmake/cmake/xo_macros/xo_cxx.cmake
+++ b/xo-cmake/cmake/xo_macros/xo_cxx.cmake
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ option(XO_ENABLE_DOCS "enable building documentation" OFF)
 option(XO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES "enable building example programs" OFF)
 option(XO_ENABLE_VULKAN "enable vulkan dependency for imgui apps" OFF)
 option(XO_ENABLE_OPENGL "enable opengl dependency for imgui apps" ON)
+option(XO_ENABLE_ASM "generate assembler output (.s files)" OFF)
 
 macro(xo_cxx_config_message)
     message(STATUS "GUESSED_CMAKE_CMD=cmake -DXO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=${XO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE} -DENABLE_TESTING=${ENABLE_TESTING} -DXO_ENABLE_DOCS=${XO_ENABLE_DCS} -DXO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES=${XO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES} -DXO_ENABLE_VULKAN=${XO_ENABLE_VULKAN} -DXO_ENABLE_OPENGL=${XO_ENABLE_OPENGL} -DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=${CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_MODULE_PATH=${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR} -B ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ macro(xo_toplevel_config2)
     xo_toplevel_debug_config2()
     xo_toplevel_asan_config2()
     xo_toplevel_coverage_config2()
+    xo_toplevel_asm_config2()
 endmacro()
 
 # coverage build:
@@ -261,6 +263,13 @@ macro(xo_toplevel_coverage_config2)
     endif()
 endmacro()
 
+macro(xo_toplevel_asm_config2)
+    if(XO_ENABLE_ASM)
+        message(STATUS "enabling assembler output (-save-temps=obj -fverbose-asm)")
+        add_compile_options(-save-temps=obj -fverbose-asm)
+    endif()
+endmacro()
+
 # target to build+install coverage report.
 #
 macro(xo_utest_coverage_config2)