diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
index 5288932e..387c8a59 100644
--- a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import com.google.inject.Inject
 import com.google.inject.Singleton
 import java.io.File
 import java.io.FileInputStream
-import java.lang.NumberFormatException
 import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement
@@ -40,6 +39,9 @@ class KobaltSettingsXml {
 
     @XmlElement(name = "kobaltCompilerFlags") @JvmField
     var kobaltCompilerFlags: String? = null
+
+    @XmlElement(name = "kobaltCompilerSeparateProcess") @JvmField
+    var kobaltCompilerSeparateProcess: Boolean = false
 }
 
 class ProxiesXml {
@@ -83,6 +85,12 @@ class KobaltSettings @Inject constructor(val xmlFile: KobaltSettingsXml) {
      */
     val localMavenRepo = KFiles.makeDir(xmlFile.localMavenRepo)
 
+    /**
+     * If true, the Kotlin compiler will always be launched in a separate JVM, even if the requested
+     * version is the same as the internal version.
+     */
+    val kobaltCompilerSeparateProcess = xmlFile.kobaltCompilerSeparateProcess
+
     val defaultRepos = xmlFile.defaultRepos?.repo
 
     val proxyConfigs = with(xmlFile.proxies?.proxy) {
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinCompiler.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinCompiler.kt
index 4016ea0f..b1a967d3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinCompiler.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinCompiler.kt
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ class KotlinCompiler @Inject constructor(
             // need to spawn a Kotlin compiler in a separate process. Otherwise, we can just invoke
             // the K2JVMCompiler class directly
             val actualVersion = kotlinConfig(project)?.version ?: settings.kobaltCompilerVersion
-            if (actualVersion == Constants.KOTLIN_COMPILER_VERSION) {
-                return invokeCompilerDirectly(projectName ?: "kobalt-" + Random().nextInt(), outputDir,
-                        classpath, info.sourceFiles, info.friendPaths.toTypedArray())
+            if (settings.kobaltCompilerSeparateProcess || actualVersion != Constants.KOTLIN_COMPILER_VERSION) {
+                return invokeCompilerInSeparateProcess(classpath, info, project)
 
             } else {
-                return invokeCompilerInSeparateProcess(classpath, info, project)
+                return invokeCompilerDirectly(projectName ?: "kobalt-" + Random().nextInt(), outputDir,
+                        classpath, info.sourceFiles, info.friendPaths.toTypedArray())
             }
         }
 
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class KotlinCompiler @Inject constructor(
             val compilerClasspath = compilerDep.jarFile.get().path + File.pathSeparator +
                     compilerEmbeddableDependencies(null).map { it.jarFile.get().path }
                             .joinToString(File.pathSeparator)
-            val xFlagsString = kotlinConfig(project)?.flags
+            val xFlagsString = kotlinConfig(project)?.args?.joinToString(" ")
                     ?: settings.kobaltCompilerFlags
                     ?: ""
             val xFlagsArray = xFlagsString.split(" ").toTypedArray()
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinPlugin.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinPlugin.kt
index 8447b98d..3d297f52 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinPlugin.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/kotlin/KotlinPlugin.kt
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class KotlinPlugin @Inject constructor(val executors: KobaltExecutors, val depen
     // ICompilerFlagsContributor
     override fun compilerFlagsFor(project: Project, context: KobaltContext, currentFlags: List<String>,
             suffixesBeingCompiled: List<String>) : List<String> {
-        val args = (configurationFor(project)?.compilerArgs ?: listOf<String>()) + "-no-stdlib"
+        val args = (configurationFor(project)?.args ?: listOf<String>()) + "-no-stdlib"
         val result = maybeCompilerArgs(compiler.sourceSuffixes, suffixesBeingCompiled, args)
         return result
     }
@@ -145,14 +145,11 @@ fun kotlinProject(vararg projects: Project, init: Project.() -> Unit): Project {
 }
 
 class KotlinConfig(val project: Project) {
-    val compilerArgs = arrayListOf<String>()
-    fun args(vararg options: String) = compilerArgs.addAll(options)
+    val args = arrayListOf<String>()
+    fun args(vararg options: String) = args.addAll(options)
 
     /** The version of the Kotlin compiler */
     var version: String? = null
-
-    /** The flags to pass to the Kotlin compiler */
-    var flags: String? = null
 }
 
 @Directive