diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index fec41ad..f4289c4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 CHANGES
 =======
 
+2.1.x
+-----
+
+- enable `LTO`_ for wheel builds
+
+.. _LTO: https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/LinkTimeOptimization
+
 2.1.1 (2017-07-01)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e695467..710d451 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,7 +19,17 @@ install: clean
 build-manylinux1-wheel:
 	docker pull quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_i686
 	docker pull quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_x86_64
-	docker run --rm -ti -v `pwd`:/project -w /project quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_i686   bash dockerfiles/buildwheel.sh
-	docker run --rm -ti -v `pwd`:/project -w /project quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_x86_64 bash dockerfiles/buildwheel.sh
+	docker run --rm -ti -v `pwd`:/project \
+		-e CFLAGS="-mtune=generic -pipe -fPIC -flto" \
+		-e LDFLAGS="$(LDFLAGS) -flto" \
+		-w /project \
+		quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_i686 \
+		bash dockerfiles/buildwheel.sh
+	docker run --rm -ti -v `pwd`:/project \
+		-e CFLAGS="-mtune=generic -pipe -fPIC -flto" \
+		-e LDFLAGS="$(LDFLAGS) -flto" \
+		-w /project \
+		quay.io/pypa/manylinux1_x86_64 \
+		bash dockerfiles/buildwheel.sh
 
 build: clean pip test sdist build-manylinux1-wheel