diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 19979e1bf..ddc989b7c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ endif()
 
 IF(DEFINED OLEVEL )
   if((OLEVEL GREATER -1) AND (OLEVEL LESS 4) )
-  	set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -O${OLEVEL}" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags")
+    set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -O${OLEVEL}" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags"  FORCE)
 	message(STATUS "Optimization level at: ${OLEVEL}")
   else()
 	message(WARNING "Optimization level was set to a bad value, ignoring it. (Valid values are 0-3)")
@@ -80,16 +80,17 @@ IF(DEFINED OLEVEL )
 endif()
 
 if(GCOV)
-  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags")
+  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags"  FORCE)
   set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -lgcov")
 endif()
 
 if(FAKE_CODE)
-  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -DFAKE_CODE" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags")
+  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -DFAKE_CODE" CACHE STRING "Compilation flags"  FORCE)
 endif()
 
 if(PROFILE)
-  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -pg " CACHE STRING "Compilation flags")
+  message(STATUS "Profiling executables")
+  set(FLAGS "${FLAGS} -pg " CACHE STRING "Compilation flags" FORCE)
 endif()
 
 set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${FLAGS}")
diff --git a/macros.cmake b/macros.cmake
index 9683a88f6..b7edfed14 100644
--- a/macros.cmake
+++ b/macros.cmake
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ macro(set_variables)
   # Build extra tools
   set(BUILD_TOOLS FALSE CACHE BOOL "Build extra utility tools")
 
+  # Profiling
+  set(PROFILE FALSE CACHE BOOL "Profiling (gprof)")
+
 endmacro()
 
 macro(check_deps)