diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index ee2882b..d13685b 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,25 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
 
-set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_NAMES clang gcc cc)
+if(DEFINED VPP_PLATFORM AND VPP_PLATFORM STREQUAL "default")
+  unset(VPP_PLATFORM)
+  set(VPP_PLATFORM_NAME "default")
+elseif(DEFINED VPP_PLATFORM)
+  set(platform_file ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/platform/${VPP_PLATFORM}.cmake)
+  if(NOT EXISTS ${platform_file})
+     message(FATAL_ERROR "unknown platform ${VPP_PLATFORM}")
+  endif()
+  include(${platform_file})
+  set(VPP_PLATFORM_NAME ${VPP_PLATFORM})
+else()
+  set(VPP_PLATFORM_NAME "default")
+endif()
+
+if (DEFINED VPP_PLATFORM_C_COMPILER_NAMES)
+  set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_NAMES ${VPP_PLATFORM_C_COMPILER_NAME})
+else()
+  set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_NAMES clang gcc cc)
+endif()
 
 project(vpp C)
 
@@ -37,6 +55,11 @@
   OUTPUT_VARIABLE VPP_VERSION
   OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
 )
+
+if (VPP_PLATFORM)
+  set(VPP_VERSION ${VPP_VERSION}-${VPP_PLATFORM_NAME})
+endif()
+
 string(REPLACE "-" ";" VPP_LIB_VERSION ${VPP_VERSION})
 list(GET VPP_LIB_VERSION 0 VPP_LIB_VERSION)
 
@@ -183,7 +206,7 @@
 endif()
 
 ##############################################################################
-# unittest with clang ode coverage
+# unittest with clang code coverage
 ##############################################################################
 
 if("${CMAKE_VERSION}" VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "3.13" AND "${CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID}" MATCHES "(Apple)?[Cc]lang")
@@ -307,6 +330,7 @@
 # print configuration
 ##############################################################################
 message(STATUS "Configuration:")
+pr("VPP platform" ${VPP_PLATFORM_NAME})
 pr("VPP version" ${VPP_VERSION})
 pr("VPP library version" ${VPP_LIB_VERSION})
 pr("GIT toplevel dir" ${VPP_GIT_TOPLEVEL_DIR})