diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e1d6b14f4..481045603 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_LANG(C++)
 AX_CXX_COMPILE_STDCXX([17], [gnu], [mandatory], 201703)
 
+
 dnl ***************************************************************************
 dnl
 dnl Makefile tree
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ dnl
 #	mrproper
 #])
 
+
 dnl ***************************************************************************
 dnl
 dnl Platform
@@ -117,6 +119,7 @@ AC_SEARCH_LIBS([__dynamic_cast], [c++], [],
 	AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install libstdc++ on this system.])
 ])
 
+
 dnl ***************************************************************************
 dnl
 dnl Developer options
@@ -464,6 +467,23 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(lowmem-compile, RB_HELP_STRING([--enable-lowmem-compile], [Enable
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL([LOWMEM_COMPILE], [[[[ $lowmem_compile = "yes" ]]]])
 
+
+dnl ***************************************************************************
+dnl
+dnl Base Build Flags
+dnl
+
+dnl
+dnl Reserved for user
+dnl
+dnl ex. `make EXTRA_CXXFLAGS="-Weverything" ircd` to append CXXFLAGS
+
+dnl AC_SUBST(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS, "$EXTRA_CPPFLAGS")
+dnl AC_SUBST(EXTRA_CFLAGS, "$EXTRA_CFLAGS")
+dnl AC_SUBST(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS, "$EXTRA_CXXFLAGS")
+dnl AC_SUBST(EXTRA_LDFLAGS, "$EXTRA_LDFLAGS")
+dnl AC_SUBST(EXTRA_LIBS, "$EXTRA_LIBS")
+
 dnl
 dnl Gold linker
 dnl
@@ -503,6 +523,13 @@ dnl	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LDFLAGS], ["-Wl,--icf=all"])
 	AC_MSG_ERROR([Sorry, disabling the gold linker is not supported at this time.])
 ])
 
+dnl Note compact mode options available in both GOLD and LLD
+AM_COND_IF([COMPACT],
+[
+	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LDFLAGS], ["-Wl,--strip-all"])
+	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LDFLAGS], ["-Wl,--gc-sections"])
+])
+
 dnl
 dnl Optimization
 dnl
@@ -1094,9 +1121,16 @@ dnl
 AM_COND_IF(MINGW,
 [
 	AC_DEFINE(HAVE_WIN32, [1], [Define to 1 if you are on windows])
-	LIBS="$LIBS -lws2_32 -liphlpapi"
-],[])
+	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LIBS], ["-lws2_32 -liphlpapi"])
+], [
 
+	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LIBS], ["-latomic"])
+	RB_VAR_PREPEND([LIBS], ["-lpthread"])
+	AM_COND_IF([GCC],
+	[
+		RB_VAR_PREPEND([CXXFLAGS], ["-pthread"])
+	])
+])
 
 AM_COND_IF(INTERIX,
 [
@@ -2213,31 +2247,49 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LLVM, [LLVM],
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL([LLVM], [test "x$have_libllvm" = "xyes" ])
 
-dnl
-dnl
-dnl Additional linkages
-dnl
-dnl
 
-AC_SUBST(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS)
-AC_SUBST(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS)
-AC_SUBST(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
-AC_SUBST(EXTRA_LIBS)
+dnl ***************************************************************************
+dnl
+dnl Unit configuration macros
+dnl
+dnl These are used in various Makefiles on certain units which require them.
+dnl They are defined here to deduplicate between Makefile.
 
-AM_COND_IF([COMPACT],
+dnl Units which require boost::asio use these flags. This includes the
+dnl ircd/asio.h PCH, which includes ircd.h upstream in the precompile.
+AC_SUBST(ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
+ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
+ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $SSL_CPPFLAGS"
+ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $CRYPTO_CPPFLAGS"
+ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" -include ircd/asio.h"
+
+dnl Units which include rocksdb headers use these flags.
+AC_SUBST(ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
+ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $ROCKSDB_CPPFLAGS"
+ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $SNAPPY_CPPFLAGS"
+ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $LZ4_CPPFLAGS"
+ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $Z_CPPFLAGS"
+
+dnl Units defining spirit grammars may benefit from special compiler flags due
+dnl to their various complexities. The ./configure may have generated flags
+dnl in $GRAMMAR_UNIT_CXXFLAGS to improve compile time and reduce debug symbol.
+AC_SUBST(SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
+SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $ICU_CPPFLAGS"
+SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
+SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" -include ircd/spirit.h"
+
+AC_SUBST(SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS)
+
+AM_COND_IF([GCC],
 [
-	EXTRA_LDFLAGS+=" -Wl,--strip-all"
-	EXTRA_LDFLAGS+=" -Wl,--gc-sections"
-])
+	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-var-tracking"
+	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-var-tracking-assignments"
+	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -femit-struct-debug-baseonly"
 
-AM_COND_IF([MINGW],
-[
-
-], [
-	EXTRA_LIBS+="-lpthread -latomic"
-	AM_COND_IF([GCC],
+	AM_COND_IF([LOWMEM_COMPILE],
 	[
-		EXTRA_CXXFLAGS+=" -pthread"
+		SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" --param ggc-min-expand=1"
+		SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-ipa-pta"
 	])
 ])
 
@@ -2272,6 +2324,7 @@ RB_HELP_STRING([--with-mxid-maxlen=LENGTH],[Set the upper-bound mxid length to L
 
 RB_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([MXID_MAXLEN], [$MXID_MAXLEN], [Maximum string length of an MXID (not including null)])
 
+
 dnl ***************************************************************************
 dnl
 dnl Branding defined in the compilation
@@ -2339,52 +2392,6 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(custom-version, RB_HELP_STRING([--with-custom-version=NAME], [Custom
 ])
 
 
-dnl ***************************************************************************
-dnl
-dnl Unit configuration macros
-dnl
-dnl These are used in various Makefiles on certain units which require them.
-dnl They are defined here to deduplicate between Makefile.
-
-dnl Units which require boost::asio use these flags. This includes the
-dnl ircd/asio.h PCH, which includes ircd.h upstream in the precompile.
-AC_SUBST(ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
-ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
-ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $SSL_CPPFLAGS"
-ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $CRYPTO_CPPFLAGS"
-ASIO_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" -include ircd/asio.h"
-
-dnl Units which include rocksdb headers use these flags.
-AC_SUBST(ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
-ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $ROCKSDB_CPPFLAGS"
-ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $SNAPPY_CPPFLAGS"
-ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $LZ4_CPPFLAGS"
-ROCKSDB_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $Z_CPPFLAGS"
-
-dnl Units defining spirit grammars may benefit from special compiler flags due
-dnl to their various complexities. The ./configure may have generated flags
-dnl in $GRAMMAR_UNIT_CXXFLAGS to improve compile time and reduce debug symbol.
-AC_SUBST(SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS)
-SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $ICU_CPPFLAGS"
-SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
-SPIRIT_UNIT_CPPFLAGS+=" -include ircd/spirit.h"
-
-AC_SUBST(SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS)
-
-AM_COND_IF([GCC],
-[
-	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-var-tracking"
-	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-var-tracking-assignments"
-	SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -femit-struct-debug-baseonly"
-
-	AM_COND_IF([LOWMEM_COMPILE],
-	[
-		SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" --param ggc-min-expand=1"
-		SPIRIT_UNIT_CXXFLAGS+=" -fno-ipa-pta"
-	])
-])
-
-
 dnl ***************************************************************************
 dnl
 dnl Output
diff --git a/construct/Makefile.am b/construct/Makefile.am
index 1158c9d60..3ed66ba88 100644
--- a/construct/Makefile.am
+++ b/construct/Makefile.am
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ prefix = @prefix@
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
 	-ftls-model=initial-exec \
-	@EXTRA_CXXFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	@BOOST_CPPFLAGS@ \
 	@SSL_CPPFLAGS@ \
 	@CRYPTO_CPPFLAGS@ \
-	@EXTRA_CPPFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_LDFLAGS = \
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ AM_LDFLAGS = \
 	-L$(top_srcdir)/ircd \
 	-L$(top_srcdir)/modules \
 	$(PLATFORM_LDFLAGS) \
-	@EXTRA_LDFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = construct
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ construct_LDADD = \
 	@SSL_LIBS@ \
 	@CRYPTO_LIBS@ \
 	@MALLOC_LIBS@ \
-	@EXTRA_LIBS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LIBS) \
 	###
 
 construct_SOURCES = \
diff --git a/include/ircd/Makefile.am b/include/ircd/Makefile.am
index 0b10d1f60..c943f68c8 100644
--- a/include/ircd/Makefile.am
+++ b/include/ircd/Makefile.am
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/include \
-	@EXTRA_CPPFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) \
     ###
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
 	-x c++-header \
-	@EXTRA_CXXFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 if GCC
diff --git a/ircd/Makefile.am b/ircd/Makefile.am
index 059a6393a..c1d186b5e 100644
--- a/ircd/Makefile.am
+++ b/ircd/Makefile.am
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ DEFS += \
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
 	-ftls-model=initial-exec \
-	@EXTRA_CXXFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/include \
 	-include ircd/ircd.pic.h \
-	@EXTRA_CPPFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_LDFLAGS = \
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ AM_LDFLAGS = \
 	-Wl,-z,nodlopen \
 	-Wl,-z,lazy \
 	$(PLATFORM_LDFLAGS) \
-	@EXTRA_LDFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 if CLANG
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ libircd_la_LIBADD = \
 	@LZ4_LIBS@ \
 	@Z_LIBS@ \
 	@MALLOC_LIBS@ \
-	@EXTRA_LIBS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LIBS) \
 	###
 
 #
diff --git a/matrix/Makefile.am b/matrix/Makefile.am
index 5a6d2dd36..65841e522 100644
--- a/matrix/Makefile.am
+++ b/matrix/Makefile.am
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ DEFS += \
 	###
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
-	@EXTRA_CXXFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/include \
 	-include ircd/matrix.pic.h \
 	-include ircd/mods/mapi.h \
-	@EXTRA_CPPFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_LDFLAGS = \
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ AM_LDFLAGS = \
 	-Wl,-z,lazy \
 	-L$(top_srcdir)/ircd \
 	$(PLATFORM_LDFLAGS) \
-	@EXTRA_LDFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_LIBS = \
diff --git a/modules/Makefile.am b/modules/Makefile.am
index 9104d9311..9156c81be 100644
--- a/modules/Makefile.am
+++ b/modules/Makefile.am
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ DEFS += \
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
 	-ftls-model=global-dynamic \
-	@EXTRA_CXXFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CXXFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/include \
 	-include $(top_srcdir)/include/ircd/matrix.pic.h \
 	-include $(top_srcdir)/include/ircd/mods/mapi.h \
-	@EXTRA_CPPFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 #TODO: split options for if LD_GOLD
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ AM_LDFLAGS = \
 	-L$(top_srcdir)/ircd \
 	-L$(top_srcdir)/matrix \
 	$(PLATFORM_LDFLAGS) \
-	@EXTRA_LDFLAGS@ \
+	$(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) \
 	###
 
 ###############################################################################