diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6784521..3598bab 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -634,6 +634,12 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([daemon],
 
 BITCOIN_QT_INIT
 
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([libsecp256k1],[libsecp256k1],,[true])
+AC_ARG_WITH([libsecp256k1-verify],[],[use_libsecp256k1=$withval],[use_libsecp256k1=yes])
+if test "x$use_libsecp256k1" = "xyes"; then
+    AC_DEFINE(USE_SECP256K1,1,[USE_SECP256K1])
+fi
+
 if test x$use_pkgconfig = xyes; then
 
   if test x"$PKG_CONFIG" = "x"; then
@@ -869,9 +875,6 @@ PKGCONFIG_LIBDIR_TEMP="$PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR"
 unset PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
 PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR="$PKGCONFIG_LIBDIR_TEMP"
 
-ac_configure_args="${ac_configure_args} --disable-shared --with-pic"
-AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS([src/secp256k1])
-
 AC_OUTPUT
 
 dnl Taken from https://wiki.debian.org/RpathIssue
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 0d45203..3a44a16 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-DIST_SUBDIRS = secp256k1
 AM_LDFLAGS = $(PTHREAD_CFLAGS) $(LIBTOOL_LDFLAGS)
 
 
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ endif
 BITCOIN_CONFIG_INCLUDES=-I$(builddir)/config
 BITCOIN_INCLUDES=-I$(builddir) -I$(builddir)/obj $(BOOST_CPPFLAGS) $(LEVELDB_CPPFLAGS) $(CRYPTO_CFLAGS) $(SSL_CFLAGS)
 
-BITCOIN_INCLUDES += -I$(srcdir)/secp256k1/include
+BITCOIN_INCLUDES += $(libsecp256k1_CFLAGS)
 
 LIBBITCOIN_SERVER=libbitcoin_server.a
 LIBBITCOIN_WALLET=libbitcoin_wallet.a
@@ -30,10 +29,7 @@ LIBBITCOIN_UTIL=libbitcoin_util.a
 LIBBITCOIN_CRYPTO=crypto/libbitcoin_crypto.a
 LIBBITCOIN_UNIVALUE=univalue/libbitcoin_univalue.a
 LIBBITCOINQT=qt/libbitcoinqt.a
-LIBSECP256K1=secp256k1/libsecp256k1.la
-
-$(LIBSECP256K1): $(wildcard secp256k1/src/*) $(wildcard secp256k1/include/*)
-	$(AM_V_at)$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) -C $(@D) $(@F)
+LIBSECP256K1=$(libsecp256k1_LIBS)
 
 # Make is not made aware of per-object dependencies to avoid limiting building parallelization
 # But to build the less dependent modules first, we manually select their order here:
@@ -364,7 +360,7 @@ libbitcoinconsensus_la_LDFLAGS = -no-undefined $(RELDFLAGS)
 libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD = $(CRYPTO_LIBS)
 libbitcoinconsensus_la_CPPFLAGS = $(CRYPTO_CFLAGS) -I$(builddir)/obj -DBUILD_BITCOIN_INTERNAL
 if USE_LIBSECP256K1
-libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD += secp256k1/libsecp256k1.la
+libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD += $(LIBSECP256K1)
 endif
 endif
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile.test.include b/src/Makefile.test.include
index 5fd2afe..014092a 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.test.include
+++ b/src/Makefile.test.include
@@ -104,9 +104,6 @@ bitcoin_test_check: $(TEST_BINARY) FORCE
 bitcoin_test_clean : FORCE
 	rm -f $(CLEAN_BITCOIN_TEST) $(test_test_bitcoin_OBJECTS) $(TEST_BINARY)
 
-check-local:
-	$(AM_V_at)$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) -C secp256k1 check
-
 %.json.h: %.json
 	@$(MKDIR_P) $(@D)
 	@echo "namespace json_tests{" > $@