diff --git a/package/flex/Config.in b/package/flex/Config.in
index 5ab330780c..d110c481bb 100644
--- a/package/flex/Config.in
+++ b/package/flex/Config.in
@@ -6,3 +6,11 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_FLEX
 	  programs that perform pattern-matching on text.
 
 	  http://www.gnu.org/software/flex/
+
+config BR2_PACKAGE_FLEX_LIBFL
+	bool "Install libfl.a under staging_dir/lib"
+	default y
+	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_FLEX
+	help
+	  Install libfl.a under staging_dir/lib for further development
+	  on a host machine.
diff --git a/package/flex/flex.mk b/package/flex/flex.mk
index a44bb9692d..9c6e929265 100644
--- a/package/flex/flex.mk
+++ b/package/flex/flex.mk
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ $(TARGET_DIR)/$(FLEX_TARGET_BINARY): $(FLEX_DIR)/$(FLEX_BINARY)
 	    mandir=$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/man \
 	    includedir=$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/include \
 	    -C $(FLEX_DIR) install
+ifeq ($(strip $(BR2_PACKAGE_FLEX_LIBFL)),y)
+	install -D $(FLEX_DIR)/libfl.a $(STAGING_DIR)/lib/libfl.a
+endif
 	rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)/share/locale $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/info \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/man $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/doc
 	(cd $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin; ln -snf flex lex)
@@ -89,6 +92,9 @@ flex-clean:
 	    includedir=$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/include \
 		-C $(FLEX_DIR) uninstall
 	rm -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin/lex
+ifeq ($(strip $(BR2_PACKAGE_FLEX_LIBFL)),y)
+	-rm $(STAGING_DIR)/lib/libfl.a
+endif
 	-$(MAKE) -C $(FLEX_DIR) clean
 
 flex-dirclean: