diff --git a/CMakeExternals/OpenCV.cmake b/CMakeExternals/OpenCV.cmake
index 3af941b1d5..0383749c89 100644
--- a/CMakeExternals/OpenCV.cmake
+++ b/CMakeExternals/OpenCV.cmake
@@ -1,44 +1,49 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # OpenCV
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 IF(MITK_USE_OPEN_CV)
 
 # Sanity checks
 IF(DEFINED OpenCV_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${OpenCV_DIR})
   MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "OpenCV_DIR variable is defined but corresponds to non-existing directory")
 ENDIF()
 
 SET(proj OpenCV)
 SET(proj_DEPENDENCIES)
 SET(OpenCV_DEPENDS ${proj})
 
 IF(NOT DEFINED OpenCV_DIR)
+
+  OPTION(OpenCV_BUILD_NEW_PYTHON_SUPPORT "Build OpenCV Python wrappers" OFF)
+  MARK_AS_ADVANCED(OpenCV_BUILD_NEW_PYTHON_SUPPORT)
+
   IF(WIN32)
     SET(opencv_url http://mitk.org/download/thirdparty/OpenCV-2.2.0-win.tar.bz2)
   ELSE()
     SET(opencv_url http://mitk.org/download/thirdparty/OpenCV-2.2.0.tar.bz2)
   ENDIF()
 
   ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
      URL ${opencv_url}
      BINARY_DIR ${proj}-build
      INSTALL_COMMAND ""
      CMAKE_GENERATOR ${gen}
      CMAKE_ARGS
        ${ep_common_args}
        -DBUILD_TESTS:BOOL=OFF
        -DBUILD_EXAMPLES:BOOL=OFF
        -DBUILD_DOXYGEN_DOCS:BOOL=OFF
+       -DBUILD_NEW_PYTHON_SUPPORT:BOOL=${OpenCV_BUILD_NEW_PYTHON_SUPPORT}
      DEPENDS ${proj_DEPENDENCIES}
     )
 
   SET(OpenCV_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${proj}-build)
 
 ELSE()
 
   mitkMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${proj_DEPENDENCIES}")
 
 ENDIF()
 
 ENDIF()