diff --git a/README b/README
index 3c6ee27a0..b5379d84d 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ You must use GNU `make' to build SWIG.
 
 http://www.gnu.org/software/make/
 
+PCRE needs to be installed on your system to build SWIG. The configure
+script will provide instructions for obtaining PCRE if it cannot be found.
+
 To build and install SWIG, simply type the following:
 
      % ./configure
diff --git a/Tools/mkwindows.sh b/Tools/mkwindows.sh
index 869fce01a..6042361b3 100755
--- a/Tools/mkwindows.sh
+++ b/Tools/mkwindows.sh
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ else
     if test x$zip = x; then
       zip=zip
     fi
-    extraconfigureoptions="--host=i586-mingw32msvc --build=i686-linux CXXFLAGS=-O2 CFLAGS=-O2"
+    extraconfigureoptions="--host=i586-mingw32msvc --build=i686-linux"
   else 
     if test "$cygwin"; then
       echo "Building native Windows executable on Cygwin"
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ fi
 swigbasename=swig-$version
 swigwinbasename=swigwin-$version
 tarball=$swigbasename.tar.gz
+pcre_tarball=`ls pcre-*.tar.*`
+
+if ! test -f "$pcre_tarball"; then
+  echo "Could not find PCRE tarball. Please download a PCRE source tarball from http://www.pcre.org"
+  echo "and place in the same directory as the SWIG tarball."
+  exit 1
+fi
 
 if test -f "$tarball"; then
     builddir=build-$version
@@ -78,8 +85,11 @@ if test -f "$tarball"; then
       mv $swigbasename $swigwinbasename
       tar -zxf ../$tarball
       cd $swigbasename
+      (cd ../.. && cp $pcre_tarball $builddir/$swigbasename)
+      echo Running: Tools/pcre-build.sh $extraconfigureoptions CFLAGS="$compileflags" CXXFLAGS="$compileflags"
+      ./Tools/pcre-build.sh $extraconfigureoptions CFLAGS="$compileflags" CXXFLAGS="$compileflags" || exit 1
       echo Running: ./configure $extraconfigureoptions CFLAGS="$compileflags" CXXFLAGS="$compileflags"
-      ./configure $extraconfigureoptions CFLAGS="$compileflags" CXXFLAGS="$compileflags"
+      ./configure $extraconfigureoptions CFLAGS="$compileflags" CXXFLAGS="$compileflags" || exit 1
       echo "Compiling (quietly)..."
       make > build.log
       echo "Simple check to see if swig.exe runs..."
diff --git a/Tools/pcre-build.sh b/Tools/pcre-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..876a58a7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/pcre-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+pcre_subdir=pcre/pcre-swig-install
+pcre_install_dir=`pwd`/$pcre_subdir
+
+usage() {
+  echo "Helper script to build PCRE as a static library from a tarball just for use during the"
+  echo "SWIG build. It does not install PCRE for global use on your system."
+  echo "Usage: pcre-build.sh [--help] [args]"
+  echo "  args   - optional additional arguments passed on to the PCRE configure script (leave out"
+  echo "         unless you are an expert at configure)"
+  echo "  --help - Display this help information."
+  echo "Instructions:"
+  echo "  - Download the latest PCRE source tarball from http://www.pcre.org and place in the"
+  echo "    directory that you will configure and build SWIG."
+  echo "  - Run this script in the same directory that you intend to configure and build SWIG in."
+  echo "  - Afterwards run the SWIG configure scrip which will then find and use the PCRE static"
+  echo "    libraries in the $pcre_subdir subdirectory."
+  exit 0
+}
+
+bail() {
+  echo $1 >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+if test "$1" = "-h" -o "$1" = "-help" -o "$1" = "--help" ; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+if test -f "pcre-build.sh" ; then
+  echo "Error: this script should not be run in the Tools directory" >&2
+  echo ""
+  usage
+fi
+
+echo "Looking for PCRE tarball..."
+rm -rf pcre
+pcre_tarball=`ls pcre-*.tar.*`
+test -f "$pcre_tarball" || bail "Could not find tarball"
+
+echo "Extracting tarball: $pcre_tarball"
+tar -xf $pcre_tarball || bail "Could not untar $pcre_tarball"
+pcre_dir=`echo $pcre_tarball | sed -e "s/\.tar.*//"`
+echo "Configuring PCRE in directory: pcre"
+mv $pcre_dir pcre || bail "Could not create pcre directory"
+cd pcre && ./configure --prefix=$pcre_install_dir --disable-shared $* || bail "PCRE configure failed"
+echo "Building PCRE..."
+make -s || bail "Could not build PCRE"
+echo "Installing PCRE locally to $pcre_install_dir..."
+make -s install || bail "Could not install PCRE"
+echo ""
+echo "The SWIG configure script can now be run, whereupon PCRE will automatically be detected and used from $pcre_install_dir/bin/pcre-config."
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 856d02d4a..2976aca66 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -67,6 +67,19 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([pcre],
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to enable PCRE support])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$with_pcre])
+
+dnl To make configuring easier, check for a locally built PCRE using the Tools/pcre-build.sh script
+if test x"${with_pcre}" = xyes ; then 
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to use local PCRE])
+  local_pcre_config=no
+  if test -z $PCRE_CONFIG; then
+    if test -f `pwd`/pcre/pcre-swig-install/bin/pcre-config; then
+      PCRE_CONFIG=`pwd`/pcre/pcre-swig-install/bin/pcre-config
+      local_pcre_config=$PCRE_CONFIG
+    fi
+  fi
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([$local_pcre_config])
+fi
 AS_IF([test "x$with_pcre" != xno],
   [AX_PATH_GENERIC([pcre],
     [], dnl Minimal version of PCRE we need -- accept any
@@ -75,11 +88,18 @@ AS_IF([test "x$with_pcre" != xno],
      LIBS="$LIBS $PCRE_LIBS"
      CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $PCRE_CFLAGS"
     ],
-    [AC_MSG_FAILURE(
-        Can't find pcre-config script from PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular
-        Expressions) library package. You need to either download PCRE from
-        www.pcre.org and install it or use --without-pcre configure option to
-        disable regular expressions support in SWIG.)
+    [AC_MSG_FAILURE([
+        Can't find pcre-config script from PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions)
+        library package. This dependency is needed for configure to complete,
+        Either:
+        - Install the PCRE developer package on your system (preferred approach).
+        - Download the PCRE source tarball, build and install on your system
+          as you would for any package built from source distribution.
+        - Use the Tools/pcre-build.sh script to build PCRE just for SWIG to statically
+          link against. Run 'Tools/pcre-build.sh --help' for instructions.
+          (quite easy and does not require privileges to install PCRE on your system)
+        - Use configure --without-pcre to disable regular expressions support in SWIG
+          (not recommended).])
     ])
   ])