diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index ef6fc19f60..68925c68c0 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ OPTION(ENABLE_BUILD_OPTIMIZATIONS "Enable certain compiler and linker optimizati
 OPTION(USE_IFC4 "Use IFC 4 instead of IFC 2x3 (full rebuild recommended when switching this)" OFF)
 OPTION(BUILD_IFCPYTHON "Build IfcPython." ON)
 OPTION(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build example applications." ON)
+OPTION(USE_VLC "Use Visual Leak Detector for debugging memory leaks, MSVC-only." OFF)
 # TODO QtViewer is deprecated ATM as it uses the 0.4 API
 # OPTION(BUILD_QTVIEWER "Build IfcOpenShell Qt GUI Viewer (requires Qt 4 framework)." OFF)
 
@@ -237,6 +238,9 @@ if(ENABLE_BUILD_OPTIMIZATIONS)
 endif()
 
 IF(MSVC)
+	IF(USE_VLC)
+		ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DUSE_VLC)
+	ENDIF()
 	# Enforce Unicode for CRT and Win32 API calls
 	ADD_DEFINITIONS(-D_UNICODE -DUNICODE)
 	# Disable warnings about unsafe C functions; we could use the safe C99 & C11 versions if we have no need for supporting old compilers.
diff --git a/src/examples/IfcOpenHouse.cpp b/src/examples/IfcOpenHouse.cpp
index af9de2bebe..ce811161e7 100644
--- a/src/examples/IfcOpenHouse.cpp
+++ b/src/examples/IfcOpenHouse.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@
 #include "../ifcparse/IfcHierarchyHelper.h"
 #include "../ifcgeom/IfcGeom.h"
 
+#if USE_VLC
+#include <vld.h>
+#endif
+
 // Some convenience typedefs and definitions. 
 typedef std::string S;
 typedef IfcParse::IfcGlobalId guid;
@@ -531,6 +535,8 @@ void createGroundShape(TopoDS_Shape& shape) {
 	TColStd_Array1OfInteger mult(0, 1);
 	mult(0) = 5;
 	mult(1) = 5;	
+#undef new
+
 	Handle(Geom_BSplineSurface) surf = new Geom_BSplineSurface(cv, knots, knots, mult, mult, 4, 4);
 #if OCC_VERSION_HEX < 0x60502
 	shape = BRepBuilderAPI_MakeFace(surf);
diff --git a/src/examples/IfcParseExamples.cpp b/src/examples/IfcParseExamples.cpp
index 342a6e8674..1d418ee628 100644
--- a/src/examples/IfcParseExamples.cpp
+++ b/src/examples/IfcParseExamples.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
 
 #include "../ifcparse/IfcFile.h"
 
+#if USE_VLC
+#include <vld.h>
+#endif
+
 using namespace IfcSchema;
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
diff --git a/src/ifcconvert/IfcConvert.cpp b/src/ifcconvert/IfcConvert.cpp
index 73ecb1ad95..da8184acb7 100644
--- a/src/ifcconvert/IfcConvert.cpp
+++ b/src/ifcconvert/IfcConvert.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@
 #include <IGESControl_Controller.hxx>
 #include <Standard_Version.hxx>
 
+#if USE_VLC
+#include <vld.h>
+#endif
+
 static std::string DEFAULT_EXTENSION = "obj";
 
 void printVersion() {
diff --git a/src/ifcgeomserver/IfcGeomServer.cpp b/src/ifcgeomserver/IfcGeomServer.cpp
index fa3a356b4d..3ba7cedb82 100644
--- a/src/ifcgeomserver/IfcGeomServer.cpp
+++ b/src/ifcgeomserver/IfcGeomServer.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@
 
 #include "../ifcgeom/IfcGeomIterator.h"
 
+#if USE_VLC
+#include <vld.h>
+#endif
+
 using namespace boost;
 
 template <typename T>
@@ -282,7 +286,13 @@ public:
 	Bye() : Command(BYE) {};
 };
 
-int main () {
+int main ()
+{
+	// Memory leak debugging in MSVC debug mode
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(_DEBUG)
+	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
+#endif
+
 	// Redirect stdout to this stream, so that involuntary 
 	// writes to stdout do not interfere with our protocol.
 	std::ostringstream oss;