diff --git a/gdb/Makefile.in b/gdb/Makefile.in
index fc0c56564c2..7654fb1aa04 100644
--- a/gdb/Makefile.in
+++ b/gdb/Makefile.in
@@ -907,13 +907,22 @@ ALL_TARGET_OBS = \
 	vax-tdep.o \
 	windows-tdep.o \
 	x86-tdep.o \
-	xcoffread.o \
 	xstormy16-tdep.o \
 	xtensa-config.o \
 	xtensa-linux-tdep.o \
 	xtensa-tdep.o \
 	z80-tdep.o
 
+# Object files for reading specific types of debug information.
+coff_SRCS = coffread.c coff-pe-read.c
+dbx_SRCS = dbxread.c
+elf_SRCS = elfread.c stap-probe.c dtrace-probe.c
+macho_SRCS = machoread.c
+mips_SRCS = mipsread.c
+xcoff_SRCS = xcoffread.c
+FORMAT_SRCS = @FORMAT_SRCS@
+FORMAT_OBS = $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(FORMAT_SRCS))
+
 # The following native-target dependent variables are defined on
 # configure.nat.
 NAT_FILE = @NAT_FILE@
@@ -1070,8 +1079,6 @@ COMMON_SFILES = \
 	c-varobj.c \
 	charset.c \
 	cli-out.c \
-	coff-pe-read.c \
-	coffread.c \
 	complaints.c \
 	completer.c \
 	copying.c \
@@ -1085,7 +1092,6 @@ COMMON_SFILES = \
 	d-lang.c \
 	d-namespace.c \
 	d-valprint.c \
-	dbxread.c \
 	dcache.c \
 	debug.c \
 	debuginfod-support.c \
@@ -1150,7 +1156,6 @@ COMMON_SFILES = \
 	memtag.c \
 	minidebug.c \
 	minsyms.c \
-	mipsread.c \
 	namespace.c \
 	objc-lang.c \
 	objfiles.c \
@@ -1243,7 +1248,6 @@ SFILES = \
 	d-exp.y \
 	dtrace-probe.c \
 	elf-none-tdep.c \
-	elfread.c \
 	f-exp.y \
 	gcore-elf.c \
 	gdb.c \
@@ -1870,7 +1874,6 @@ ALLDEPFILES = \
 	x86-gnu-nat.c \
 	x86-nat.c \
 	x86-tdep.c \
-	xcoffread.c \
 	xstormy16-tdep.c \
 	xtensa-config.c \
 	xtensa-linux-nat.c \
@@ -1925,7 +1928,8 @@ COMMON_OBS = $(DEPFILES) $(CONFIG_OBS) $(YYOBJ) \
 	$(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(COMMON_SFILES)) \
 	$(SUBDIR_CLI_OBS) \
 	$(SUBDIR_MI_OBS) \
-	$(SUBDIR_TARGET_OBS)
+	$(SUBDIR_TARGET_OBS) \
+	$(FORMAT_OBS)
 
 SUBDIRS = doc @subdirs@ data-directory
 CLEANDIRS = $(SUBDIRS)
diff --git a/gdb/NEWS b/gdb/NEWS
index 4c9aed421bb..a8c17318d7e 100644
--- a/gdb/NEWS
+++ b/gdb/NEWS
@@ -224,6 +224,17 @@ vFile:stat
 * Support for stabs debugging format and the a.out/dbx object format is
   deprecated, and will be removed in GDB 18.
 
+* Configure changes
+
+--enable-binary-file-formats=[FORMAT,...]
+--enable-binary-file-formats=all
+  A user can now decide to only compile support for certain file formats.
+  The available formats at this point are: dbx, coff, xcoff, elf, mach-o
+  and mips.  Some targets require specific file formats to be available,
+  and in such cases, the configure script will warn the user and add
+  support anyway.  By default, all formats will be compiled in, to
+  continue the behavior from before adding the switch.
+
 * A new configure option was added, allowing support for the compile
   subsystem to be disabled at configure time, in the form of
   --disable-gdb-compile.
diff --git a/gdb/README b/gdb/README
index eca4181c751..5dc2e7e7ad3 100644
--- a/gdb/README
+++ b/gdb/README
@@ -417,6 +417,30 @@ more obscure GDB `configure' options are not listed here.
      There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
      targets.
 
+`--enable-binary-file-formats=FORMAT,FORMAT,...'
+`--enable-binary-file-formats=all'
+    Configure GDB to only be be able to read selected file formats.
+    The special value "all" causes all file formats to be compiled
+    in, and is the the default behavior of the option.  This option
+    is meant for advanced users who are sure of what they expect,
+    if you are unsure which options you will need on your debugging
+    sessions, we recommend that you not use this feature.  The
+    accepted options are:
+      * coff: Main format on Windows systems, this is required to
+        compile with windows target support;
+      * dbx (also known as a.out): Legacy file format, this is
+        recommended if you know you will be dealing with this
+        file format;
+      * elf: Main format on Linux systems, this is heavily
+        recommended when compiling with linux support;
+      * macho: Main format on MacOS systems, this is heavily
+        recommended when compiling for those targets;
+      * mips (also known as ecoff): Main file format for targets
+        running on MIPS CPUs, this is heavily recommended when
+        supporting those targets;
+      * xcoff: Main format on AIX systems, this is required to
+        compile for AIX targets and rs6000 CPUs.
+
 `--with-gdb-datadir=PATH'
      Set the GDB-specific data directory.  GDB will look here for
      certain supporting files or scripts.  This defaults to the `gdb'
diff --git a/gdb/config.in b/gdb/config.in
index 149aeaf979b..efc3100cb9e 100644
--- a/gdb/config.in
+++ b/gdb/config.in
@@ -745,6 +745,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the ANSI C header files. */
 #undef STDC_HEADERS
 
+/* Which binary file formats were requested at configure time. */
+#undef SUPPORTED_BINARY_FILE_FORMATS
+
 /* automatically load a system-wide gdbinit file */
 #undef SYSTEM_GDBINIT
 
diff --git a/gdb/configure b/gdb/configure
index 8fc3b04efbf..cdea00f8675 100755
--- a/gdb/configure
+++ b/gdb/configure
@@ -706,6 +706,7 @@ LIBGUI
 LTLIBLZMA
 LIBLZMA
 HAVE_LIBLZMA
+FORMAT_SRCS
 SER_HARDWIRE
 WERROR_CFLAGS
 WARN_CFLAGS
@@ -932,6 +933,7 @@ with_relocated_sources
 with_auto_load_dir
 with_auto_load_safe_path
 enable_targets
+enable_binary_file_formats
 enable_gdb_mdebug_support
 enable_gdb_dwarf_support
 with_amd_dbgapi
@@ -1645,6 +1647,10 @@ Optional Features:
   --disable-nls           do not use Native Language Support
   --enable-targets=TARGETS
                           alternative target configurations
+  --enable-binary-file-formats=FORMATS
+                          enable support for selected file formats (default
+                          'all') available formats: coff, dbx, elf, macho,
+                          mips, xcoff, all
   --enable-gdb-mdebug-support
                           Enable support for the mdebug debuginfo format
                           (default 'yes')
@@ -11507,7 +11513,7 @@ else
   lt_dlunknown=0; lt_dlno_uscore=1; lt_dlneed_uscore=2
   lt_status=$lt_dlunknown
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<_LT_EOF
-#line 11510 "configure"
+#line 11516 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 
 #if HAVE_DLFCN_H
@@ -11613,7 +11619,7 @@ else
   lt_dlunknown=0; lt_dlno_uscore=1; lt_dlneed_uscore=2
   lt_status=$lt_dlunknown
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<_LT_EOF
-#line 11616 "configure"
+#line 11622 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 
 #if HAVE_DLFCN_H
@@ -24882,6 +24888,18 @@ esac
 fi
 
 
+# Check whether --enable-binary_file_formats was given.
+if test "${enable_binary_file_formats+set}" = set; then :
+  enableval=$enable_binary_file_formats; case "${enableval}" in
+ yes | "") as_fn_error $? "enable-binary-file-formats option must specify file formats or 'all'" "$LINENO" 5
+            ;;
+  no)       enable_binary_file_formats= ;;
+  *)        enable_binary_file_formats=$enableval ;;
+esac
+else
+  enable_binary_file_formats=all
+fi
+
 
 # Check whether to support mdebug/ecoff debug information.
 # Check whether --enable-gdb-mdebug-support was given.
@@ -24986,10 +25004,21 @@ TARGET_OBS=
 all_targets=
 HAVE_NATIVE_GCORE_TARGET=
 
+# File formats that will be enabled based on the selected
+# target(s).  These are chosen because they are required to
+# compile one or more of the selected targets.
+target_formats=
+
+# If all targets were requested, this is all formats that should
+# accompany them.  These are just the ones required for compilation
+# to succeed, not the formats suggested based on targets.
+all_target_formats="coff xcoff"
+
 for targ_alias in `echo $target_alias $enable_targets | sed 's/,/ /g'`
 do
   if test "$targ_alias" = "all"; then
     all_targets=true
+    target_formats=$all_target_formats
   else
     # Canonicalize the secondary target names.
     result=`$ac_config_sub $targ_alias 2>/dev/null`
@@ -31628,6 +31657,12 @@ fi
 # Note that WIN32APILIBS is set by GDB_AC_COMMON.
 WIN32LIBS="$WIN32LIBS $WIN32APILIBS"
 
+# Object files to be used when building with support for all file formats.
+# This should not have elf or macho, as support for those formats depends
+# on BFD enabling them as well.
+all_binary_file_srcs="\$(dbx_SRCS) \$(mips_SRCS) \$(coff_SRCS) \$(xcoff_SRCS)"
+
+bfd_supports_elf=no
 # Add ELF support to GDB, but only if BFD includes ELF support.
 
   OLD_CFLAGS=$CFLAGS
@@ -31645,7 +31680,7 @@ WIN32LIBS="$WIN32LIBS $WIN32APILIBS"
   CC="./libtool --quiet --mode=link $CC"
   { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for ELF support in BFD" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking for ELF support in BFD... " >&6; }
-if ${gdb_cv_var_elf+:} false; then :
+if ${gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf+:} false; then :
   $as_echo_n "(cached) " >&6
 else
   cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
@@ -31664,24 +31699,23 @@ return bfd_get_elf_phdr_upper_bound (NULL);
 }
 _ACEOF
 if ac_fn_c_try_link "$LINENO"; then :
-  gdb_cv_var_elf=yes
+  gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf=yes
 else
-  gdb_cv_var_elf=no
+  gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf=no
 
 fi
 rm -f core conftest.err conftest.$ac_objext \
     conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_ext
 
 fi
-{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $gdb_cv_var_elf" >&5
-$as_echo "$gdb_cv_var_elf" >&6; }
+{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" >&5
+$as_echo "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" >&6; }
   CC=$OLD_CC
   CFLAGS=$OLD_CFLAGS
   LDFLAGS=$OLD_LDFLAGS
   LIBS=$OLD_LIBS
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_elf" = yes; then
-  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS elfread.o stap-probe.o dtrace-probe.o \
-		gcore-elf.o elf-none-tdep.o"
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" = yes; then
+  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS gcore-elf.o elf-none-tdep.o"
 
 $as_echo "#define HAVE_ELF 1" >>confdefs.h
 
@@ -31744,9 +31778,12 @@ if test "$ac_res" != no; then :
 fi
 
   fi
+  bfd_supports_elf=yes
+  all_binary_file_srcs="$all_binary_file_srcs \$(elf_SRCS)"
 fi
 
 # Add macho support to GDB, but only if BFD includes it.
+bfd_supports_macho=no
 
   OLD_CFLAGS=$CFLAGS
   OLD_LDFLAGS=$LDFLAGS
@@ -31763,7 +31800,7 @@ fi
   CC="./libtool --quiet --mode=link $CC"
   { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for Mach-O support in BFD" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking for Mach-O support in BFD... " >&6; }
-if ${gdb_cv_var_macho+:} false; then :
+if ${gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho+:} false; then :
   $as_echo_n "(cached) " >&6
 else
   cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
@@ -31782,30 +31819,81 @@ return bfd_mach_o_lookup_command (NULL, 0, NULL);
 }
 _ACEOF
 if ac_fn_c_try_link "$LINENO"; then :
-  gdb_cv_var_macho=yes
+  gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho=yes
 else
-  gdb_cv_var_macho=no
+  gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho=no
 
 fi
 rm -f core conftest.err conftest.$ac_objext \
     conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_ext
 
 fi
-{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $gdb_cv_var_macho" >&5
-$as_echo "$gdb_cv_var_macho" >&6; }
+{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho" >&5
+$as_echo "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho" >&6; }
   CC=$OLD_CC
   CFLAGS=$OLD_CFLAGS
   LDFLAGS=$OLD_LDFLAGS
   LIBS=$OLD_LIBS
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_macho" = yes; then
-  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS machoread.o"
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho" = yes; then
+  bfd_supports_macho=yes
+  all_binary_file_srcs="$all_binary_file_srcs \$(macho_SRCS)"
 fi
 
+FORMAT_SRCS=
+
+if test "$enable_binary_file_formats" != "all"; then
+    # Formats that are required by some requested target(s).
+    # Warn users that they are added, so no one is surprised.
+    for req in $target_formats; do
+	case ,$enable_binary_file_formats, in
+	*,$req,*)
+	    # Do nothing.
+	    ;;
+	*)
+	    { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: WARNING: \"$req is required to support one or more requested targets.  Adding it\"" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: \"$req is required to support one or more requested targets.  Adding it\"" >&2;}
+	    enable_binary_file_formats="${enable_binary_file_formats},$req"
+	    ;;
+	esac
+    done
+
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define SUPPORTED_BINARY_FILE_FORMATS "$enable_binary_file_formats"
+_ACEOF
+
+fi
+
+enable_binary_file_formats=$(echo $enable_binary_file_formats | sed 's/,/ /g')
+
+# Go through all requested and required binary file formats to compile
+# GDB, and double check that we can compile them.
+for format in $enable_binary_file_formats
+do
+    if test "$format" = "elf" && test "$bfd_supports_elf" != "yes"; then
+	    as_fn_error but BFD does not support it." "\"elf support was requested" "$LINENO" 5;
+    elif test "$format" = "macho" && test "$bfd_supports_macho" != "yes"; then
+	    as_fn_error but BFD does not support it." "\"Mach-O support was requested" "$LINENO" 5;
+    fi
+
+    if test "$format" = "all"; then
+	FORMAT_SRCS="$all_binary_file_srcs"
+	# We don't break here in case the user requested Mach-O or ELF, but
+	# BFD is not configured to support it.  If we were to break, we would
+	# silently drop the requested support instead of erroring out.
+    else
+	fmt=$(echo "$format _SRCS" | sed 's/ //')
+	FORMAT_SRCS="$FORMAT_SRCS \$($fmt)"
+    fi
+done
+
+
+
 # Add any host-specific objects to GDB.
 CONFIG_OBS="${CONFIG_OBS} ${gdb_host_obs}"
 
 # If building on ELF, look for lzma support for embedded compressed debug info.
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_elf" = yes; then
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" = yes; then
 
 # Check whether --with-lzma was given.
 if test "${with_lzma+set}" = set; then :
diff --git a/gdb/configure.ac b/gdb/configure.ac
index 226e27e4fe5..2ef53fe5c56 100644
--- a/gdb/configure.ac
+++ b/gdb/configure.ac
@@ -191,6 +191,16 @@ AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-targets=TARGETS], [alternative target configurations]),
 	;;
 esac])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(binary_file_formats,
+	      AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-binary-file-formats=FORMATS],
+			     [enable support for selected file formats (default 'all')
+			      available formats: coff, dbx, elf, macho, mips, xcoff, all]),
+[case "${enableval}" in
+ yes | "") AC_MSG_ERROR(enable-binary-file-formats option must specify file formats or 'all')
+            ;;
+  no)       enable_binary_file_formats= ;;
+  *)        enable_binary_file_formats=$enableval ;;
+esac], [enable_binary_file_formats=all])
 
 # Check whether to support mdebug/ecoff debug information.
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(gdb-mdebug-support,
@@ -240,10 +250,21 @@ TARGET_OBS=
 all_targets=
 HAVE_NATIVE_GCORE_TARGET=
 
+# File formats that will be enabled based on the selected
+# target(s).  These are chosen because they are required to
+# compile one or more of the selected targets.
+target_formats=
+
+# If all targets were requested, this is all formats that should
+# accompany them.  These are just the ones required for compilation
+# to succeed, not the formats suggested based on targets.
+all_target_formats="coff xcoff"
+
 for targ_alias in `echo $target_alias $enable_targets | sed 's/,/ /g'`
 do
   if test "$targ_alias" = "all"; then
     all_targets=true
+    target_formats=$all_target_formats
   else
     # Canonicalize the secondary target names.
     result=`$ac_config_sub $targ_alias 2>/dev/null`
@@ -1952,32 +1973,87 @@ fi
 # Note that WIN32APILIBS is set by GDB_AC_COMMON.
 WIN32LIBS="$WIN32LIBS $WIN32APILIBS"
 
+# Object files to be used when building with support for all file formats.
+# This should not have elf or macho, as support for those formats depends
+# on BFD enabling them as well.
+all_binary_file_srcs="\$(dbx_SRCS) \$(mips_SRCS) \$(coff_SRCS) \$(xcoff_SRCS)"
+
+bfd_supports_elf=no
 # Add ELF support to GDB, but only if BFD includes ELF support.
-GDB_AC_CHECK_BFD([for ELF support in BFD], gdb_cv_var_elf,
+GDB_AC_CHECK_BFD([for ELF support in BFD], gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf,
                  [bfd_get_elf_phdr_upper_bound (NULL)], elf-bfd.h)
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_elf" = yes; then
-  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS elfread.o stap-probe.o dtrace-probe.o \
-		gcore-elf.o elf-none-tdep.o"
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" = yes; then
+  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS gcore-elf.o elf-none-tdep.o"
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_ELF, 1,
 	    [Define if ELF support should be included.])
   # -ldl is provided by bfd/Makefile.am (LIBDL) <PLUGINS>.
   if test "$plugins" = "yes"; then
     AC_SEARCH_LIBS(dlopen, dl)
   fi
+  bfd_supports_elf=yes
+  all_binary_file_srcs="$all_binary_file_srcs \$(elf_SRCS)"
 fi
 
 # Add macho support to GDB, but only if BFD includes it.
-GDB_AC_CHECK_BFD([for Mach-O support in BFD], gdb_cv_var_macho,
+bfd_supports_macho=no
+GDB_AC_CHECK_BFD([for Mach-O support in BFD], gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho,
                  [bfd_mach_o_lookup_command (NULL, 0, NULL)], mach-o.h)
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_macho" = yes; then
-  CONFIG_OBS="$CONFIG_OBS machoread.o"
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_macho" = yes; then
+  bfd_supports_macho=yes
+  all_binary_file_srcs="$all_binary_file_srcs \$(macho_SRCS)"
 fi
 
+FORMAT_SRCS=
+
+if test "$enable_binary_file_formats" != "all"; then
+    # Formats that are required by some requested target(s).
+    # Warn users that they are added, so no one is surprised.
+    for req in $target_formats; do
+	case ,$enable_binary_file_formats, in
+	*,$req,*)
+	    # Do nothing.
+	    ;;
+	*)
+	    AC_MSG_WARN("$req is required to support one or more requested targets.  Adding it")
+	    enable_binary_file_formats="${enable_binary_file_formats},$req"
+	    ;;
+	esac
+    done
+
+    AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(SUPPORTED_BINARY_FILE_FORMATS, "$enable_binary_file_formats",
+		       Which binary file formats were requested at configure time. )
+fi
+
+enable_binary_file_formats=$(echo $enable_binary_file_formats | sed 's/,/ /g')
+
+# Go through all requested and required binary file formats to compile
+# GDB, and double check that we can compile them.
+for format in $enable_binary_file_formats
+do
+    if test "$format" = "elf" && test "$bfd_supports_elf" != "yes"; then
+	    AC_MSG_ERROR("elf support was requested, but BFD does not support it.");
+    elif test "$format" = "macho" && test "$bfd_supports_macho" != "yes"; then
+	    AC_MSG_ERROR("Mach-O support was requested, but BFD does not support it.");
+    fi
+
+    if test "$format" = "all"; then
+	FORMAT_SRCS="$all_binary_file_srcs"
+	# We don't break here in case the user requested Mach-O or ELF, but
+	# BFD is not configured to support it.  If we were to break, we would
+	# silently drop the requested support instead of erroring out.
+    else
+	fmt=$(echo "$format _SRCS" | sed 's/ //')
+	FORMAT_SRCS="$FORMAT_SRCS \$($fmt)"
+    fi
+done
+
+AC_SUBST(FORMAT_SRCS)
+
 # Add any host-specific objects to GDB.
 CONFIG_OBS="${CONFIG_OBS} ${gdb_host_obs}"
 
 # If building on ELF, look for lzma support for embedded compressed debug info.
-if test "$gdb_cv_var_elf" = yes; then
+if test "$gdb_cv_var_bfd_elf" = yes; then
   AC_ARG_WITH(lzma,
     AS_HELP_STRING([--with-lzma], [support lzma compression (auto/yes/no)]),
     [], [with_lzma=auto])
diff --git a/gdb/configure.tgt b/gdb/configure.tgt
index 255c77e9f8c..332f5b7513c 100644
--- a/gdb/configure.tgt
+++ b/gdb/configure.tgt
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ powerpc-*-openbsd*)
 	;;
 powerpc-*-aix* | rs6000-*-* | powerpc64-*-aix*)
 	# Target: PowerPC running AIX
-	gdb_target_obs="rs6000-tdep.o rs6000-aix-tdep.o xcoffread.o \
+	gdb_target_obs="rs6000-tdep.o rs6000-aix-tdep.o \
 			ppc-sysv-tdep.o solib-aix.o \
 			ravenscar-thread.o ppc-ravenscar-thread.o"
 	;;
@@ -522,8 +522,8 @@ powerpc*-*-linux*)
 powerpc-*-lynx*178)
 	# Target: PowerPC running Lynx178.
 	gdb_target_obs="rs6000-tdep.o rs6000-lynx178-tdep.o \
-			xcoffread.o ppc-sysv-tdep.o \
-			ravenscar-thread.o ppc-ravenscar-thread.o"
+			ppc-sysv-tdep.o ravenscar-thread.o \
+			ppc-ravenscar-thread.o"
 	;;
 powerpc*-*-*)
 	# Target: PowerPC running eabi
@@ -835,3 +835,17 @@ for t in x ${gdb_target_obs}; do
     gdb_have_gcore=true
   fi
 done
+
+# Decide which file formats are absolutely required based on
+# the requested targets.  Warn later that they are added, in
+# case the user didn't manually request them, or all readers.
+# It's fine to add the same format multiple times since the
+# loop that reads the options to FORMAT_OBS will ensure that
+# they are only added once.
+for i in $gdb_target_obs; do
+    case "${i}" in
+    *"windows-tdep.o" ) target_formats="${target_formats} coff";;
+    "rs6000-aix-tdep.o" ) target_formats="${target_formats} xcoff";;
+    "rs6000-lynx178-tdep.o" ) target_formats="${target_formats} xcoff";;
+    esac
+done
diff --git a/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo b/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
index 2bbaf14c584..d4a5a632c24 100644
--- a/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
+++ b/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
@@ -41277,6 +41277,14 @@ Configure @value{GDBN} for cross-debugging programs running on the
 specified list of targets.  The special value @samp{all} configures
 @value{GDBN} for debugging programs running on any target it supports.
 
+@item --enable-binary-file-formats=@r{[}@var{format}@r{]}@dots{}
+@itemx --enable-binary-file-formats=all
+Configure @value{GDBN} to support certain binary file formats.  If a
+format is the main (or only) file format for a given target, the
+configure script may add support to it anyway, and warn the user.
+If not given, all file formats that @value{GDBN} supports are compiled
+in.
+
 @item --with-gdb-datadir=@var{path}
 Set the @value{GDBN}-specific data directory.  @value{GDBN} will look
 here for certain supporting files or scripts.  This defaults to the
diff --git a/gdb/top.c b/gdb/top.c
index b097683e613..933efa03f90 100644
--- a/gdb/top.c
+++ b/gdb/top.c
@@ -1596,6 +1596,11 @@ This GDB was configured as follows:\n\
 	     --with-system-gdbinit-dir=%s%s\n\
 "), SYSTEM_GDBINIT_DIR, SYSTEM_GDBINIT_DIR_RELOCATABLE ? " (relocatable)" : "");
 
+#ifdef SUPPORTED_BINARY_FILE_FORMATS
+  gdb_printf (stream, _("\
+	     --enable-binary-file-formats=%s\n"), SUPPORTED_BINARY_FILE_FORMATS);
+#endif
+
   /* We assume "relocatable" will be printed at least once, thus we always
      print this text.  It's a reasonably safe assumption for now.  */
   gdb_printf (stream, _("\n\