diff --git a/Formula/boost.rb b/Formula/boost.rb
index 4fa41c24f0c..b4027a57be1 100644
--- a/Formula/boost.rb
+++ b/Formula/boost.rb
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ class Boost < Formula
 
   option :universal
   option 'with-mpi', 'Enable MPI support'
-  option 'with-icu4c', 'Build regexp engine with icu support'
+  option 'with-icu', 'Build regexp engine with icu support'
   option 'with-c++11', 'Compile using Clang, std=c++11 and stdlib=libc++' if MacOS.version >= :lion
   option 'use-system-layout', 'Use system layout instead of tagged'
 
   depends_on :python => :recommended
   depends_on UniversalPython if build.universal? and build.with? "python"
-  depends_on "icu4c" => :optional
+  depends_on "icu4c" if build.with? 'icu'
   depends_on MPIDependency.new(:cc, :cxx) if build.with? "mpi"
 
   fails_with :llvm do
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class Boost < Formula
 
     bargs << "--with-toolset=clang" if build.with? "c++11"
 
-    if build.with? 'icu4c'
+    if build.with? 'icu'
       icu4c_prefix = Formula.factory('icu4c').opt_prefix
       bargs << "--with-icu=#{icu4c_prefix}"
     else