diff --git a/scripts/config.sh b/scripts/config.sh
index 76069d5..8f7d4b6 100644
--- a/scripts/config.sh
+++ b/scripts/config.sh
@@ -176,6 +176,15 @@ STAGE3_BASENAME="stage3-$GENTOO_ARCH-systemd"
 #STAGE3_BASENAME="stage3-$GENTOO_ARCH-hardened+nomultilib"
 #STAGE3_BASENAME="stage3-$GENTOO_ARCH-hardened-selinux+nomultilib"
 
+# If set to true, the best best gentoo mirrors will be selected
+# automatically by app-portage/mirrorselect
+SELECT_MIRRORS=true
+
+# If set to true, mirrorselect will download a large 100kb file
+# from each mirror for more accurate test results. This can
+# take significantly longer (~5-10min).
+SELECT_MIRRORS_LARGE_FILE=false
+
 # Set to true if the tarball is based on systemd. In this case
 # we need to use slightly different utilities to setup the base system.
 SYSTEMD=true
diff --git a/scripts/main.sh b/scripts/main.sh
index 2e06cc6..c3cc0b7 100755
--- a/scripts/main.sh
+++ b/scripts/main.sh
@@ -120,15 +120,20 @@ configure_portage() {
 	mkdir_or_die 0755 "/etc/portage/package.keywords"
 	touch_or_die 0644 "/etc/portage/package.keywords/zz-autounmask"
 
-	einfo "Temporarily installing mirrorselect"
-	try emerge --verbose --oneshot app-portage/mirrorselect
+	if [[ $SELECT_MIRRORS == "true" ]]; then
+		einfo "Temporarily installing mirrorselect"
+		try emerge --verbose --oneshot app-portage/mirrorselect
 
-	einfo "Selecting fastest portage mirrors"
-	try mirrorselect -s 4 -b 10 -D
+		einfo "Selecting fastest portage mirrors"
+		mirrorselect_params=("-s" "4" "-b" "10")
+		[[ $SELECT_MIRRORS_LARGE_FILE == "true" ]] \
+			&& mirrorselect_params+=("-D")
+		try mirrorselect "${mirrorselect_params[@]}"
 
-	einfo "Adding ~$GENTOO_ARCH to ACCEPT_KEYWORDS"
-	echo "ACCEPT_KEYWORDS=\"~$GENTOO_ARCH\"" >> /etc/portage/make.conf \
-		|| die "Could not modify /etc/portage/make.conf"
+		einfo "Adding ~$GENTOO_ARCH to ACCEPT_KEYWORDS"
+		echo "ACCEPT_KEYWORDS=\"~$GENTOO_ARCH\"" >> /etc/portage/make.conf \
+			|| die "Could not modify /etc/portage/make.conf"
+	fi
 }
 
 install_sshd() {