diff --git a/Doc/library/compileall.rst b/Doc/library/compileall.rst
index 41e9e1b..104f33a 100644
--- a/Doc/library/compileall.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/compileall.rst
@@ -66,9 +66,20 @@
    is to write files to their :pep:`3147` locations and names, which allows
    byte-code files from multiple versions of Python to coexist.
 
+.. cmdoption:: -r
+
+   Control the maximum recursion level for subdirectories.
+   If this is given, then ``-l`` option will not be taken into account.
+   :program:`python -m compileall <directory> -r 0` is equivalent to
+   :program:`python -m compileall <directory> -l`.
+
+
 .. versionchanged:: 3.2
    Added the ``-i``, ``-b`` and ``-h`` options.
 
+.. versionchanged:: 3.5
+   Added the ``-r`` option.
+
 There is no command-line option to control the optimization level used by the
 :func:`compile` function, because the Python interpreter itself already
 provides the option: :program:`python -O -m compileall`.
diff --git a/Lib/compileall.py b/Lib/compileall.py
index d957ee5..513d899 100644
--- a/Lib/compileall.py
+++ b/Lib/compileall.py
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@
     parser.add_argument('-l', action='store_const', const=0,
                         default=10, dest='maxlevels',
                         help="don't recurse into subdirectories")
+    parser.add_argument('-r', type=int, dest='recursion',
+                        help=('control the maximum recursion level. '
+                              'if `-l` and `-r` options are specified, '
+                              'then `-r` takes precedence.'))
     parser.add_argument('-f', action='store_true', dest='force',
                         help='force rebuild even if timestamps are up to date')
     parser.add_argument('-q', action='store_true', dest='quiet',
@@ -203,6 +207,12 @@
         import re
         args.rx = re.compile(args.rx)
 
+
+    if args.recursion is not None:
+        maxlevels = args.recursion
+    else:
+        maxlevels = args.maxlevels
+
     # if flist is provided then load it
     if args.flist:
         try:
@@ -222,7 +232,7 @@
                                         args.quiet, args.legacy):
                         success = False
                 else:
-                    if not compile_dir(dest, args.maxlevels, args.ddir,
+                    if not compile_dir(dest, maxlevels, args.ddir,
                                        args.force, args.rx, args.quiet,
                                        args.legacy):
                         success = False
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_compileall.py b/Lib/test/test_compileall.py
index 2a42238..ba1765e 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_compileall.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_compileall.py
@@ -273,6 +273,40 @@
         self.assertCompiled(subinitfn)
         self.assertCompiled(hamfn)
 
+    def test_recursion_limit(self):
+        subpackage = os.path.join(self.pkgdir, 'spam')
+        subpackage2 = os.path.join(subpackage, 'ham')
+        subpackage3 = os.path.join(subpackage2, 'eggs')
+        for pkg in (subpackage, subpackage2, subpackage3):
+            script_helper.make_pkg(pkg)
+
+        subinitfn = os.path.join(subpackage, '__init__.py')
+        hamfn = script_helper.make_script(subpackage, 'ham', '')
+        spamfn = script_helper.make_script(subpackage2, 'spam', '')
+        eggfn = script_helper.make_script(subpackage3, 'egg', '')
+
+        self.assertRunOK('-q', '-r 0', self.pkgdir)
+        self.assertNotCompiled(subinitfn)
+        self.assertFalse(
+            os.path.exists(os.path.join(subpackage, '__pycache__')))
+
+        self.assertRunOK('-q', '-r 1', self.pkgdir)
+        self.assertCompiled(subinitfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(hamfn)
+        self.assertNotCompiled(spamfn)
+
+        self.assertRunOK('-q', '-r 2', self.pkgdir)
+        self.assertCompiled(subinitfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(hamfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(spamfn)
+        self.assertNotCompiled(eggfn)
+
+        self.assertRunOK('-q', '-r 5', self.pkgdir)
+        self.assertCompiled(subinitfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(hamfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(spamfn)
+        self.assertCompiled(eggfn)
+
     def test_quiet(self):
         noisy = self.assertRunOK(self.pkgdir)
         quiet = self.assertRunOK('-q', self.pkgdir)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 9458a2a..9e2b198 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #19628: Allow compileall recursion depth to be specified with a -r
+  option.
+
 - Issue #15696: Add a __sizeof__ implementation for mmap objects on Windows.
 
 - Issue #22068: Avoided reference loops with Variables and Fonts in Tkinter.