diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 79db184..3bb5e7b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@
 		$(PHOSPHOR_LOGGING_CFLAGS) \
 		-flto
 
+if FEATURE_NIC_ETHTOOL
+phosphor_network_manager_CXXFLAGS += -DNIC_SUPPORTS_ETHTOOL
+endif
+
 xyz/openbmc_project/Network/VLAN/Create/server.cpp: xyz/openbmc_project/Network/VLAN/Create.interface.yaml xyz/openbmc_project/Network/VLAN/Create/server.hpp
 	@mkdir -p `dirname $@`
 	$(SDBUSPLUSPLUS) -r $(srcdir) interface server-cpp xyz.openbmc_project.Network.VLAN.Create > $@
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8870fcd..12d6caa 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -113,6 +113,16 @@
 AC_ARG_VAR(SYSTEMD_TARGET, "Target for starting this service")
 AS_IF([test "x$SYSTEMD_TARGET" == "x"], [SYSTEMD_TARGET="multi-user.target"])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([nic_ethtool],
+    [  --enable-nic-ethtool  Enable/disable the use of ETHTOOL features in the NIC driver],
+    [case "${enableval}" in
+      yes) nic_ethtool=true ;;
+      no) nic_ethtool=false ;;
+      *) AC_MSG_ERROR([bad value ${nic_ethtool} for --enable-nic-ethtool]) ;;
+      esac],[nic_ethtool=false]
+      )
+AM_CONDITIONAL([FEATURE_NIC_ETHTOOL], [test x$nic_ethtool = xtrue])
+
 # Create configured output.
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile test/Makefile])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([xyz.openbmc_project.Network.service])
diff --git a/ethernet_interface.cpp b/ethernet_interface.cpp
index c00e4f4..ed1e1ba 100644
--- a/ethernet_interface.cpp
+++ b/ethernet_interface.cpp
@@ -79,11 +79,13 @@
     }
     EthernetInterfaceIntf::nTPServers(getNTPServersFromConf());
     EthernetInterfaceIntf::nameservers(getNameServerFromConf());
+#if NIC_SUPPORTS_ETHTOOL
     InterfaceInfo ifInfo = EthernetInterface::getInterfaceInfo();
 
     EthernetInterfaceIntf::autoNeg(std::get<2>(ifInfo));
     EthernetInterfaceIntf::speed(std::get<0>(ifInfo));
     EthernetInterfaceIntf::linkUp(std::get<3>(ifInfo));
+#endif
 
     // Emit deferred signal.
     if (emitSignal)
@@ -246,13 +248,13 @@
     return objectPath;
 }
 
+#if NIC_SUPPORTS_ETHTOOL
 /*
-Note: We don't have support for  ethtool now
-will enable this code once we bring the ethtool
-in the image.
-TODO: https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc/issues/1484
+  Enable this code if your NIC driver supports the ETHTOOL features.
+  Do this by adding the following to your phosphor-network*.bbappend file.
+     EXTRA_OECONF_append = " --enable-nic-ethtool=yes"
+  The default compile mode is to omit getInterfaceInfo()
 */
-
 InterfaceInfo EthernetInterface::getInterfaceInfo() const
 {
     ifreq ifr{0};
@@ -283,6 +285,7 @@
 
     return std::make_tuple(speed, duplex, autoneg, linkState);
 }
+#endif
 
 /** @brief get the mac address of the interface.
  *  @return macaddress on success