diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index a5fa77b24cc05ce5f8af2b97480ed1b8cd4f7efc..7361acd6bee382b7da54527d6c3f0531cb79651b 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -914,7 +914,7 @@ changequote([, ])dnl
 AC_DEFUN(AC_SYS_LARGEFILE,
   [AC_REQUIRE([AC_CANONICAL_HOST])
    AC_ARG_ENABLE(largefile,
-     [  --disable-large-files     Omit support for large files])
+     [  --disable-large-files   Omit support for large files])
    if test "$enable_largefile" != no; then
      AC_CHECK_TOOL(GETCONF, getconf)
      AC_SYS_LARGEFILE_FLAGS(CFLAGS)
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index d43906b3cfd89dfb5a1c396f7e740a6fb56744ac..eea5f53c84fd4beb5e44250da099884c6e70b2b3 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ fi
 
 # Set flags if we wants to have MIT threads.
 AC_ARG_WITH(mit-threads,
-    [  --with-mit-threads        Always use included thread lib.],
+    [  --with-mit-threads      Always use included thread lib.],
     [ with_mit_threads=$withval ],
     [ with_mit_threads=no ]
     )
@@ -374,28 +374,34 @@ fi
 
 # Set flags if we want to force to use pthreads
 AC_ARG_WITH(pthread,
-    [  --with-pthread        Force use of pthread library.],
+    [  --with-pthread          Force use of pthread library.],
     [ with_pthread=$withval ],
     [ with_pthread=no ]
     )
 
 # Force use of thread libs LIBS
 AC_ARG_WITH(named-thread-libs,
-    [  --with-named-thread-libs='-lib1 -lib2'    Use libs instead of automatically-found thread libs.],
+    [  --with-named-thread-libs=ARG
+                          Use specified thread libraries instead of 
+                          those automatically found by configure.],
     [ with_named_thread=$withval ],
     [ with_named_thread=no ]
     )
 
 # Force use of a curses libs
 AC_ARG_WITH(named-curses-libs,
-    [  --with-named-curses-libs='-lib1 -lib2'    Use libs instead of automatically-found curses libs.],
+    [  --with-named-curses-libs=ARG
+                          Use specified curses libraries instead of 
+                          those automatically found by configure.],
     [ with_named_curses=$withval ],
     [ with_named_curses=no ]
     )
 
 # Force use of a zlib (compress)
 AC_ARG_WITH(named-z-libs,
-    [  --with-named-z-libs='z'              Use libs instead of automatically-found zlib libs.],
+    [  --with-named-z-libs=ARG
+                          Use specified zlib libraries instead of
+                          those automatically found by configure.],
     [ with_named_zlib=$withval ],
     [ with_named_zlib=z ]
     )
@@ -439,14 +445,16 @@ AC_SUBST(WRAPLIBS)
 
 # Make thread safe client
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(thread-safe-client,
-    [  --enable-thread-safe-client     Compile the client with threads.],
+    [  --enable-thread-safe-client   
+                          Compile the client with threads.],
     [ THREAD_SAFE_CLIENT=$enableval ],
     [ THREAD_SAFE_CLIENT=no ]
     )
 
 # Make thread safe client
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(assembler,
-    [  --enable-assembler     Use assembler versions of some string functions if available.],
+    [  --enable-assembler      Use assembler versions of some string 
+                          functions if available.],
     [ ENABLE_ASSEMBLER=$enableval ],
     [ ENABLE_ASSEMBLER=no ]
     )
@@ -457,7 +465,7 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(ASSEMBLER, test ASSEMBLER_x86 = "" -o ASSEMBLER_x86 = "")
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to use RAID)
 AC_ARG_WITH(raid,
-    [  --with-raid   Compile in RAID (striping, mirroring, ...) support.],
+    [  --with-raid             Enable RAID Support],
     [   AC_DEFINE(USE_RAID)
         AC_MSG_RESULT(yes) ],
     [   AC_MSG_RESULT(no) ]
@@ -465,14 +473,17 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(raid,
 
 # Use this to set the place used for unix socket used to local communication.
 AC_ARG_WITH(unix-socket-path,
-    [  --with-unix-socket-path=absolute-file-name     Where to put the unix-domain socket.],
+    [  --with-unix-socket-path=SOCKET
+                          Where to put the unix-domain socket.  SOCKET must be 
+                          an absolute file name.],
     [ MYSQL_UNIX_ADDR=$withval ],
     [ MYSQL_UNIX_ADDR=$MYSQL_UNIX_ADDR_DEFAULT ]
     )
 AC_SUBST(MYSQL_UNIX_ADDR)
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(tcp-port,
-    [  --with-tcp-port=port-number     Which port to use for MySQL services (default $MYSQL_TCP_PORT_DEFAULT)],
+    [  --with-tcp-port=port-number
+                          Which port to use for MySQL services (default 3306)],
     [ MYSQL_TCP_PORT=$withval ],
     [ MYSQL_TCP_PORT=$MYSQL_TCP_PORT_DEFAULT ]
     )
@@ -482,7 +493,8 @@ AC_SUBST(MYSQL_TCP_PORT_DEFAULT)
 
 # Use this to set the place used for unix socket used to local communication.
 AC_ARG_WITH(mysqld-user,
-    [  --with-mysqld-user=username     What user mysqld daemon shall be run as.],
+    [  --with-mysqld-user=username   
+                          What user the mysqld daemon shall be run as.],
     [ MYSQLD_USER=$withval ],
     [ MYSQLD_USER=root ]
     )
@@ -1017,7 +1029,7 @@ else
   OPTIMIZE_CXXFLAGS="-O"
 fi
 AC_ARG_WITH(debug,
-    [  --without-debug          Build a production version without debugging code],
+    [  --without-debug         Build a production version without debugging code],
     [with_debug=$withval],
     [with_debug=no])
 if test "$with_debug" = "yes"
@@ -1038,20 +1050,21 @@ fi
 
 # Force static compilation to avoid linking probles/get more speed
 AC_ARG_WITH(mysqld-ldflags,
-    [  --with-mysqld-ldflags          Extra linking arguments for mysqld],
+    [  --with-mysqld-ldflags   Extra linking arguments for mysqld],
     [MYSQLD_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=$withval],
     [MYSQLD_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=])
 AC_SUBST(MYSQLD_EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(client-ldflags,
-    [  --with-client-ldflags          Extra linking arguments for clients],
+    [  --with-client-ldflags   Extra linking arguments for clients],
     [CLIENT_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=$withval],
     [CLIENT_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=])
 AC_SUBST(CLIENT_EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
 
 # Avoid stupid bug on some OS 
 AC_ARG_WITH(low-memory,
-    [  --with-low-memory          Try to use less memory to compile to avoid memory limits],
+    [  --with-low-memory       Try to use less memory to compile to avoid 
+                          memory limitations.],
     [with_lowmem=$withval],
     [with_lowmem=no])
 if test "$with_lowmem" = "yes"
@@ -1068,7 +1081,7 @@ fi
 AC_SUBST(LM_CFLAGS)
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(comment,
-    [  --with-comment          Document compilation envrionment],
+    [  --with-comment          Comment about compilation environment.],
     [with_comment=$withval],
     [with_comment=no])
 if test "$with_comment" != "no"
@@ -1457,14 +1470,14 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT("$netinet_inc")
 
 # Only build client code?
 AC_ARG_WITH(server,
-    [  --without-server         Only build the client],
+    [  --without-server        Only build the client.],
     [with_server=$withval],
     [with_server=yes]
 )
 
 # Shall we build the docs?
 AC_ARG_WITH(docs,
-    [  --without-docs         Skip building of the documents],
+    [  --without-docs          Skip building of the documentation.],
     [with_docs=$withval],
     [with_docs=yes]
 )
@@ -1479,7 +1492,7 @@ AC_SUBST(docs_dirs)
 
 # Shall we build the bench code?
 AC_ARG_WITH(bench,
-    [  --without-bench         Skip building of the benchmark],
+    [  --without-bench         Skip building of the benchmark suite.],
     [with_bench=$withval],
     [with_bench=yes]
 )
@@ -1494,7 +1507,7 @@ AC_SUBST(bench_dirs)
 
 # Don't build readline, i have it already
 AC_ARG_WITH(readline,
-    [  --without-readline	Use system readline instead of private copy],
+    [  --without-readline      Use system readline instead of bundled copy.],
     [ with_readline=$withval ],
     [ with_readline=yes ]
     )
@@ -1521,19 +1534,19 @@ dnl strings/ctype-$charset_name.c
 CHARSETS_AVAILABLE="big5 cp1251 cp1257 croat czech danish dec8 dos estonia euc_kr gb2312 gbk german1 greek hebrew hp8 hungarian koi8_ru koi8_ukr latin1 latin2 swe7 usa7 win1250 win1251 win1251ukr ujis sjis tis620"
 DEFAULT_CHARSET=latin1
 
+dnl win1251 is deprecated - it's available, but not listed here in the help
 AC_ARG_WITH(charset,
-  [  --with-charset=CHARSET  use CHARSET by default (one of: big5 cp1251 cp1257
+  [  --with-charset=CHARSET  Use CHARSET by default (one of: big5 cp1251 cp1257
                           croat czech danish dec8 dos estonia euc_kr gb2312 gbk
                           german1 greek hebrew hp8 hungarian koi8_ru koi8_ukr
-dnl win1251 is deprecated - it's available, but not listed here in the help
                           latin1 latin2 swe7 usa7 win1250 win1251ukr
-                          ujis sjis tis620; default is latin1)],
+                          ujis sjis tis620; Default is latin1)],
   [default_charset="$withval"],
   [default_charset="$DEFAULT_CHARSET"])
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(extra-charsets,
-  [  --with-extra-charsets=cs1,cs2
-                          use charsets in addition to default (none, complex,
+  [  --with-extra-charsets=CHARSET[,CHARSET,...]
+                          Use charsets in addition to default (none, complex,
                           all, or a list selected from the above sets)],
   [extra_charsets="$withval"],
   [extra_charsets="none"])