diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7d40cd1a..733cf0a2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ option(MI_LOCAL_DYNAMIC_TLS "Use slightly slower, dlopen-compatible TLS mechanis
 option(MI_BUILD_TESTS       "Build test executables" ON)
 option(MI_CHECK_FULL        "Use full internal invariant checking in DEBUG mode (deprecated, use MI_DEBUG_FULL instead)" OFF)
 option(MI_PADDING           "Enable padding to detect heap block overflow (only in debug mode)" ON)
+option(MI_XMALLOC           "Enable abort() call on memory allocation failure by default" OFF)
 option(MI_SHOW_ERRORS       "Show error and warning messages by default" OFF)
 
 include("cmake/mimalloc-config-version.cmake")
@@ -107,6 +108,11 @@ if(MI_PADDING MATCHES "OFF")
   list(APPEND mi_defines MI_PADDING=0)
 endif()
 
+if(MI_XMALLOC MATCHES "ON")
+  message(STATUS "Enable abort() calls on memory allocation failure (MI_XMALLOC=ON)")
+  list(APPEND mi_defines MI_XMALLOC=1)
+endif()
+
 if(MI_SHOW_ERRORS MATCHES "ON")
   message(STATUS "Enable printing of error and warning messages by default (MI_SHOW_ERRORS=ON)")
   list(APPEND mi_defines MI_SHOW_ERRORS=1)
diff --git a/src/options.c b/src/options.c
index 9ee37cb7..76b84589 100644
--- a/src/options.c
+++ b/src/options.c
@@ -352,6 +352,11 @@ static void mi_error_default(int err) {
     abort();
   }
 #endif
+#if defined(MI_XMALLOC)
+  if (err==ENOMEM || err==EOVERFLOW) { // abort on memory allocation fails in xmalloc mode
+    abort();
+  }
+#endif
 }
 
 void mi_register_error(mi_error_fun* fun, void* arg) {