diff --git a/QGCExternalLibs.pri b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
index 6cdaa282b17e4d1a592e9784f347de89cf6f9eb9..917f1057db4fe7db76d89651e85f1c7934af75eb 100644
--- a/QGCExternalLibs.pri
+++ b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
@@ -70,33 +70,70 @@ else {
 }
 
 #
-# MAVLink
-#
-
-MAVLINK_CONF = ""
-MAVLINKPATH = $$BASEDIR/libs/mavlink/include/mavlink/v1.0
+# Add support for MAVLink. This is a required dependency for QGC.
+# Some logic is involved here in selecting the proper dialect for
+# the selected autopilot system.
+#
+# If the user config file exists, it will be included. If this file
+# specifies the MAVLINK_CONF variable with a list of MAVLink
+# dialects, support for them will be compiled in to QGC. It will also
+# create a QGC_USE_{AUTOPILOT_NAME}_MESSAGES macro for use within
+# the actual code.
+#
+MAVLINKPATH_REL = libs/mavlink/include/mavlink/v1.0
+MAVLINKPATH = $$BASEDIR/$$MAVLINKPATH_REL
 DEFINES += MAVLINK_NO_DATA
 
-# If the user config file exists, it will be included.
-# if the variable MAVLINK_CONF contains the name of an
-# additional project, QGroundControl includes the support
-# of custom MAVLink messages of this project. It will also
-# create a QGC_USE_{AUTOPILOT_NAME}_MESSAGES macro for use
-# within the actual code.
-exists(user_config.pri) {
+# First we select the dialect, checking for valid user selection
+# Users can override all other settings by specifying MAVLINK_CONF as an argument to qmake
+!isEmpty(MAVLINK_CONF) {
+    for(dialect, MAVLINK_CONF) {
+	    exists($$MAVLINKPATH/$$dialect) {
+		MAVLINK_DIALECTS += $$dialect
+		message($$sprintf("Using MAVLink dialect '%1' specified at the command line.", $$dialect))
+	    } else {
+		error($$sprintf("MAVLink dialect '%1' specified at the command line does not exist at '%2'!", $$dialect, $$MAVLINKPATH_REL))
+	    }
+    }
+}
+# Otherwise they can specify MAVLINK_CONF within user_config.pri
+else:exists(user_config.pri) {
     include(user_config.pri)
-    message("----- USING CUSTOM USER QGROUNDCONTROL CONFIG FROM user_config.pri -----")
-    message("Adding support for additional MAVLink messages for: " $$MAVLINK_CONF)
-    message("------------------------------------------------------------------------")
-} else {
-    MAVLINK_CONF += ardupilotmega
+    !isEmpty(MAVLINK_CONF) {
+	for(dialect, MAVLINK_CONF) {
+		exists($$MAVLINKPATH/$$dialect) {
+		    MAVLINK_DIALECTS += $$dialect
+		    message($$sprintf("Using MAVLink dialect '%1' specified in user_config.pri", $$dialect))
+		} else {
+		    error($$sprintf("MAVLink dialect '%1' specified in user_config.pri does not exist at '%2'!", $$dialect, $$MAVLINKPATH_REL))
+		}
+	}
+    }
 }
+# If no valid user selection is found, default to the ardupilotmega if it's available.
+# Note: This can be a list of several dialects.
+else {
+    DEFAULT_MAVLINK_DIALECTS=ardupilotmega
+    for(dialect, DEFAULT_MAVLINK_DIALECTS) {
+	exists($$MAVLINKPATH/$$dialect) {
+	    MAVLINK_DIALECTS += $$dialect
+	    message($$sprintf("Using default MAVLink dialect '%1'.", $$dialect))
+	} else {
+	    warning($$sprintf("Default MAVLink dialect '%1' does not exist at '%2'!", $$dialect, $$MAVLINKPATH_REL))
+	}
+    }
+}
+# Then we add the proper include paths dependent on the dialects and notify
+# the user of the current dialect.
 INCLUDEPATH += $$MAVLINKPATH
-isEmpty(MAVLINK_CONF) {
-    INCLUDEPATH += $$MAVLINKPATH/common
+!isEmpty(MAVLINK_DIALECTS) {
+    for(dialect, MAVLINK_DIALECTS) {
+	    INCLUDEPATH += $$MAVLINKPATH/$$dialect
+	    DEFINES += $$sprintf('QGC_USE_%1_MESSAGES', $$upper($$dialect))
+    }
 } else {
-    INCLUDEPATH += $$MAVLINKPATH/$$MAVLINK_CONF
-    DEFINES += $$sprintf('QGC_USE_%1_MESSAGES', $$upper($$MAVLINK_CONF))
+    message("No valid MAVLink dialects found, only common messages supported.")
+    INCLUDEPATH += $$MAVLINKPATH/common
 }
 
 #
@@ -238,7 +275,7 @@ MacBuild | WindowsBuild {
 # Protcol Buffers for PixHawk
 #
 
-LinuxBuild : contains(MAVLINK_CONF, pixhawk) {
+LinuxBuild : contains(MAVLINK_DIALECT, pixhawk) {
     exists(/usr/local/include/google/protobuf) | exists(/usr/include/google/protobuf) {
         message("Including support for Protocol Buffers")
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 137fdd5e46b09576cf9f339ee30174324c3df670..b2d4bbab0e28bc5ff071e5f55724720e91245b65 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ To include QUpgrade functionality run the following (only needs to be done once
 
 The QUpgrade module relies on `libudev` on Linux platforms.
 
+### Specifying MAVLink dialects
+The MAVLink dialect compiled by default by QGC is for the ardupilotmega. This will happen if no other dialects are specified. To override this create a `user_config.pri` file in the root directory and set the `MAVLINK_CONF` variable using qmake's variable notation syntax: `MAVLINK_CONF=sensesoar`. This variable can be a list of dialects that should all be supported like `MAVLINK_CONF=sensesoar ardupilotmega`. Note that doing this may result in compilation errors as certain dialects may conflict with each other!
+
+The `MAVLINK_CONF` variable can also be specified at the command line as an argument to qmake to allow for easy one-off compilations: `qmake MAVLINK_CONF="sensesoar ardupilotmega"`
+
 # Build on Mac OSX
 
 To build on Mac OSX (10.6 or later):
diff --git a/src/uas/ArduPilotMegaMAV.cc b/src/uas/ArduPilotMegaMAV.cc
index cb972df4e85558b934199b217f554d91776d3db3..fb32d377d943948a648314e881217c3e4fdead4b 100644
--- a/src/uas/ArduPilotMegaMAV.cc
+++ b/src/uas/ArduPilotMegaMAV.cc
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ This file is part of the QGROUNDCONTROL project
 
 #include "ArduPilotMegaMAV.h"
 
+#ifdef QGC_USE_ARDUPILOTMEGA_MESSAGES
 #ifndef MAVLINK_MSG_ID_MOUNT_CONFIGURE
 #include "ardupilotmega/mavlink_msg_mount_configure.h"
 #endif
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ This file is part of the QGROUNDCONTROL project
 #ifndef MAVLINK_MSG_ID_MOUNT_CONTROL
 #include "ardupilotmega/mavlink_msg_mount_control.h"
 #endif
+#endif
 
 ArduPilotMegaMAV::ArduPilotMegaMAV(MAVLinkProtocol* mavlink, int id) :
     UAS(mavlink, id)//,
@@ -96,13 +98,16 @@ void ArduPilotMegaMAV::receiveMessage(LinkInterface* link, mavlink_message_t mes
 }
 void ArduPilotMegaMAV::setMountConfigure(unsigned char mode, bool stabilize_roll,bool stabilize_pitch,bool stabilize_yaw)
 {
+#ifdef QGC_USE_ARDUPILOTMEGA_MESSAGES
     //Only supported by APM
     mavlink_message_t msg;
     mavlink_msg_mount_configure_pack(255,1,&msg,this->uasId,1,mode,stabilize_roll,stabilize_pitch,stabilize_yaw);
     sendMessage(msg);
+#endif
 }
 void ArduPilotMegaMAV::setMountControl(double pa,double pb,double pc,bool islatlong)
 {
+#ifdef QGC_USE_ARDUPILOTMEGA_MESSAGES
     mavlink_message_t msg;
     if (islatlong)
     {
@@ -113,4 +118,5 @@ void ArduPilotMegaMAV::setMountControl(double pa,double pb,double pc,bool islatl
         mavlink_msg_mount_control_pack(255,1,&msg,this->uasId,1,pa,pb,pc,0);
     }
     sendMessage(msg);
+#endif
 }