diff --git a/Formula/protobuf.rb b/Formula/protobuf.rb
index 681f022cdb2..38273aeb1e6 100644
--- a/Formula/protobuf.rb
+++ b/Formula/protobuf.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ class Protobuf < Formula
 
   fails_with_llvm
 
+  def options
+    [['--universal', 'Do a universal build']]
+  end
+
   def install
+    ENV.universal_binary if ARGV.include? "--universal"
     system "./configure", "--disable-debug", "--disable-dependency-tracking",
                           "--prefix=#{prefix}",
                           "--with-zlib"