diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 907d3582..bf2de68b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ include (TargetArch)
 target_architecture (DETECTED_ARCH)
 message( INFO " - Target arch is ${DETECTED_ARCH}")
 
+#-march=native for ARM when not defined/forced
+if (DETECTED_ARCH MATCHES "arm.*" AND NOT CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS MATCHES "-march")
+  set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -march=native")
+endif()
+
 # enable c++11 standards support
 if (ENABLECXX11)
   include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)