diff --git a/CMake/VTKmCompilerFlags.cmake b/CMake/VTKmCompilerFlags.cmake
index 6e60a362b..a0b1cfa3c 100644
--- a/CMake/VTKmCompilerFlags.cmake
+++ b/CMake/VTKmCompilerFlags.cmake
@@ -53,8 +53,12 @@ add_library(vtkm_compiler_flags INTERFACE)
 # The flags are intended only for VTK-m itself and are not needed by consumers.
 # We will export vtkm_vectorization_flags in general so consumer can enable
 # vectorization if they so desire
+if (VTKm_ENABLE_DEVELOPER_FLAGS)
+  target_link_libraries(vtkm_compiler_flags
+    INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:vtkm_developer_flags>)
+endif()
 target_link_libraries(vtkm_compiler_flags
-  INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:vtkm_developer_flags vtkm_vectorization_flags>)
+  INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:vtkm_vectorization_flags>)
 
 
 # setup that we need C++11 support
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index eb7fdcde8..9c3ca2edf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -112,10 +112,16 @@ vtkm_option(VTKm_USE_DEFAULT_SYMBOL_VISIBILITY "Don't explicitly hide symbols fr
 vtkm_option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build VTK-m with shared libraries" ON)
 set(VTKm_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
 
+# This flag can be used to prevent VTK-m from exporting its warning flags in its
+# build interface. This is useful when building VTK-m as a thirdparty library
+# and the warnings are too strict for the parent project.
+vtkm_option(VTKm_ENABLE_DEVELOPER_FLAGS "Enable compiler flags that are usefull while developing VTK-m" ON)
+
 mark_as_advanced(
   VTKm_NO_ASSERT
   VTKm_INSTALL_ONLY_LIBRARIES
   VTKm_USE_DEFAULT_SYMBOL_VISIBILITY
+  VTKm_ENABLE_DEVELOPER_FLAGS
   )
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------