diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 3f9906037..7797b244f 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ if [[ "$COMPILE_JOBS" -gt 8 ]]; then
 fi
 
 SILENT=''
+QTDEPLIBS=bundled
 QTCORE=bundled
 QTWEBKIT=bundled
 
@@ -57,10 +58,15 @@ until [ -z "$1" ]; do
         "--silent")
             SILENT=silent
             shift;;
+        "--system-qtdeps")
+            QTDEPLIBS=system
+            shift;;
         "--system-qt")
+            QTDEPLIBS=system
             QTCORE=system
             shift;;
         "--system-qtwebkit")
+            QTDEPLIBS=system
             QTCORE=system
             QTWEBKIT=system
             shift;;
@@ -71,7 +77,8 @@ until [ -z "$1" ]; do
             echo "  --qt-config CONFIG          Specify extra config options to be used when configuring Qt"
             echo "  --jobs NUM                  How many parallel compile jobs to use. Defaults to 4."
             echo "  --silent                    Produce less verbose output."
-            echo "  --system-qt                 Use system-provided Qt core libraries. EXPERIMENTAL, build may not succeed."
+            echo "  --system-qtdeps             Use system-provided libraries for all of Qt's dependencies (e.g. freetype, libpng).  EXPERIMENTAL."
+            echo "  --system-qt                 Use system-provided Qt core libraries. EXPERIMENTAL, build may not succeed.  Implies --system-qtdeps."
             echo "  --system-qtwebkit           Use system-provided QtWebkit.  EXPERIMENTAL, build may not succeed.  Implies --system-qt."
             echo
             exit 0
@@ -125,8 +132,7 @@ echo
 
 if [[ "$QTCORE" == "bundled" ]]; then
     export QMAKE=$PWD/src/qt/qtbase/bin/qmake
-    export SQLITE3SRCDIR=$PWD/src/qt/qtbase/src/3rdparty/sqlite/
-    ( cd src/qt && ./preconfig.sh $QT_CFG )
+    ( cd src/qt && ./preconfig.sh $QTDEPLIBS $QT_CFG )
 
     echo
     echo "Building Qt..."
@@ -144,6 +150,9 @@ if [[ "$QTWEBKIT" == "bundled" ]]; then
     echo
     echo "Building QtWebkit..."
     echo
+    if [[ "$QTDEPLIBS" == "bundled" ]]; then
+        export SQLITE3SRCDIR=$PWD/src/qt/qtbase/src/3rdparty/sqlite/
+    fi
     ( cd src/qt/qtwebkit &&
         $QMAKE $QMAKE_ARGS &&
         make -j$COMPILE_JOBS $MAKE_S )
diff --git a/src/qt/preconfig.sh b/src/qt/preconfig.sh
index 6d03835e3..a9f5ea19d 100755
--- a/src/qt/preconfig.sh
+++ b/src/qt/preconfig.sh
@@ -2,14 +2,22 @@
 
 set -e
 
+if [[ $1 == "system" ]] || [[ $1 == "bundled" ]]; then
+    QTDEPLIBS=$1
+    shift
+else
+    QTDEPLIBS=bundled
+fi
+
 QT_CFG=''
 QT_CFG+=' -opensource'          # Use the open-source license
 QT_CFG+=' -confirm-license'     # Silently acknowledge the license confirmation
-QT_CFG+=' -v'                   # Makes it easier to see what header dependencies are missing
+QT_CFG+=' -v'                   # Reveal what header dependencies are missing
 QT_CFG+=' -static'              # No shared libraries
 QT_CFG+=' -qpa phantom'         # Default to our custom QPA platform
 QT_CFG+=' -release'             # Build only for release (no debugging support)
 QT_CFG+=' -nomake examples'     # Don't build any examples
+QT_CFG+=' -no-compile-examples' # Seriously, don't build any examples
 QT_CFG+=' -nomake tools'        # Don't build the tools
 
 if [[ $OSTYPE == darwin* ]]; then
@@ -40,32 +48,61 @@ QT_CFG+=' -no-libudev'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-linuxfb'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-mtdev'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-nis'
-QT_CFG+=' -no-pkg-config'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-sm'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-xcb'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-xcb-xlib'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-xinerama'
+QT_CFG+=' -no-xinput2'
 QT_CFG+=' -no-xkb'
+QT_CFG+=' -no-xrender'
 
-# Use the bundled libraries, vs system-installed
-# Note: pcre cannot be disabled, even though webkit has its own regex engine
-# Note: as best I can tell, webkitcore has a hard dependency on sqlite
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-harfbuzz'
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-libjpeg'
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-libpng'
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-pcre'
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-sql-sqlite'
-QT_CFG+=' -qt-zlib'
+# These are also unnecessary, but it's not possible to turn them off.
+#QT_CFG+=' -no-pulseaudio'
+#QT_CFG+=' -no-xlib'
 
-# Explicitly compile with support for certain optional features enabled,
-# so the build will fail if headers are missing.
+# Explicitly compile with support for OpenSSL enabled, so the build
+# will fail if headers are missing.
 QT_CFG+=' -openssl'
 
+# ICU support in QtBase is reported to be unnecessary for Darwin.
 if [[ $OSTYPE != darwin* ]]; then
-    # These are reported to be unnecessary and/or not work correctly
-    # on Darwin.
     QT_CFG+=' -icu'
-    QT_CFG+=' -fontconfig'
+fi
+
+# PCRE cannot be disabled, even though WebKit has its own regex
+# engine.  The Qt probe for system PCRE is hardwired to look for
+# -lpcre16, which is ancient and not present on current Linux
+# installs.
+QT_CFG+=' -qt-pcre'
+
+if [[ $QTDEPLIBS == bundled ]]; then
+    # Use the bundled libraries.
+    # Note: as best I can tell, webkitcore has a hard dependency on sqlite.
+    QT_CFG+=' -no-pkg-config'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-freetype'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-harfbuzz'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-libjpeg'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-libpng'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-sql-sqlite'
+    QT_CFG+=' -qt-zlib'
+
+    # There is no bundled copy of fontconfig, and if activated it will
+    # pull in the system copies of several of the above libraries.
+    QT_CFG+=' -no-fontconfig'
+
+else
+    # Use system-provided libraries.
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-freetype'
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-harfbuzz'
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-libjpeg'
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-libpng'
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-sqlite -sql-sqlite'
+    QT_CFG+=' -system-zlib'
+
+    # Fontconfig is reported to not work correctly on Darwin.
+    if [[ $OSTYPE != darwin* ]]; then
+        QT_CFG+=' -fontconfig'
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Useless styles