diff --git a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
index 6c3f8dab71a..ae08e7fdcf1 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
@@ -219,8 +219,9 @@ def __init__ (self,
             self.lib = "lib.exe"
 
         self.preprocess_options = None
-        self.compile_options = [ '/nologo', '/Ox', '/MD', '/W3' ]
-        self.compile_options_debug = ['/nologo', '/Od', '/MDd', '/W3', '/Z7', '/D_DEBUG']
+        self.compile_options = [ '/nologo', '/Ox', '/MD', '/W3', '/GX' ]
+        self.compile_options_debug = ['/nologo', '/Od', '/MDd', '/W3', '/GX',
+                                      '/Z7', '/D_DEBUG']
 
         self.ldflags_shared = ['/DLL', '/nologo', '/INCREMENTAL:NO']
         self.ldflags_shared_debug = [