diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index df6f390..57f8dfe 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,2 +1,8 @@
-SUBDIRS = libfprint
 EXTRA_DIST = THANKS
+
+SUBDIRS = libfprint
+
+if BUILD_EXAMPLES
+SUBDIRS += examples
+endif
+
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 90932ea..fe26405 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ aclocal || exit 1
 autoheader || exit 1
 autoconf || exit 1
 automake -a -c || exit 1
-./configure --enable-maintainer-mode $*
+./configure --enable-maintainer-mode --enable-examples-build $*
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ca9f19b..9e76bd8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -24,8 +24,15 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GLIB, "glib-2.0")
 AC_SUBST(GLIB_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(GLIB_LIBS)
 
+# Examples build
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([examples-build], [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-examples-build],
+	[build example applications (default n)])],
+	[build_examples=$enableval],
+	[build_examples='no'])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([BUILD_EXAMPLES], [test "x$build_examples" != "xno"])
+
 AC_DEFINE([API_EXPORTED], [__attribute__((visibility("default")))], [Default visibility])
 
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile] [libfprint/Makefile])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile] [libfprint/Makefile] [examples/Makefile])
 AC_OUTPUT
 
diff --git a/examples/Makefile.am b/examples/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b676c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+INCLUDES = -I$(top_srcdir)
+noinst_PROGRAMS = verify
+
+verify_SOURCES = verify.c
+verify_LDADD = ../libfprint/libfprint.la -lfprint
+
diff --git a/examples/verify.c b/examples/verify.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ada2c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/verify.c
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Example fingerprint verification program
+ * Copyright (C) 2007 Daniel Drake <dsd@gentoo.org>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include <libfprint/fprint.h>
+
+struct fp_dscv_dev *discover_device(struct fp_dscv_dev **discovered_devs)
+{
+	struct fp_dscv_dev *ddev = NULL;
+	struct fp_dscv_dev *tmpdev;
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; tmpdev = discovered_devs[i]; i++) {
+		const struct fp_driver *drv = fp_dscv_dev_get_driver(tmpdev);
+		printf("Found device claimed by %s driver\n",
+			fp_driver_get_full_name(drv));
+		return ddev;
+	}
+
+	return ddev;
+}
+
+int main(void)
+{
+	int r;
+	struct fp_dscv_dev *ddev;
+	struct fp_dscv_dev **discovered_devs;
+
+	r = fp_init();
+	if (r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to initialize libfprint\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	discovered_devs = fp_discover_devs();
+	if (!discovered_devs) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Could not discover devices\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	ddev = discover_device(discovered_devs);
+	if (!ddev) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "No devices detected.\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	fp_dscv_devs_free(discovered_devs);
+}
+