diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a69b8ca775..44b001e11e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ set(WITH_LFORTRAN_ASSERT ${WITH_LFORTRAN_ASSERT_DEFAULT}
 # LFORTRAN_STATIC_BIN
 set(LFORTRAN_STATIC_BIN no CACHE BOOL "Build LFortran as a static binary")
 
+# WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
+set(WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES YES
+    CACHE BOOL "Use binary modfiles")
+
 #ZLIB
 find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
 
@@ -225,6 +229,7 @@ message("WITH_LLVM: ${WITH_LLVM}")
 message("WITH_XEUS: ${WITH_XEUS}")
 message("WITH_JSON: ${WITH_JSON}")
 message("WITH_FMT: ${WITH_FMT}")
+message("WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES: ${WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES}")
 
 
 add_subdirectory(src)
diff --git a/src/lfortran/config.h.in b/src/lfortran/config.h.in
index 86134f75be..0de5d0a161 100644
--- a/src/lfortran/config.h.in
+++ b/src/lfortran/config.h.in
@@ -24,4 +24,7 @@
 /* Define if XEUS is enabled */
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LFORTRAN_XEUS
 
+/* Define if we should use binary modfiles */
+#cmakedefine WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
+
 #endif // LFORTRAN_CONFIG_H
diff --git a/src/lfortran/modfile.cpp b/src/lfortran/modfile.cpp
index d3ffb91888..14c5ed0ccd 100644
--- a/src/lfortran/modfile.cpp
+++ b/src/lfortran/modfile.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <string>
 
+#include <lfortran/config.h>
 #include <lfortran/asr_utils.h>
 #include <lfortran/asr_verify.h>
 #include <lfortran/modfile.h>
@@ -29,7 +30,11 @@ std::string save_modfile(const ASR::TranslationUnit_t &m) {
         LFORTRAN_ASSERT(ASR::is_a<ASR::Module_t>(*a.second));
         if ((bool&)a) { } // Suppress unused warning in Release mode
     }
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
     BinaryWriter b;
+#else
+    TextWriter b;
+#endif
     // Header
     b.write_string(lfortran_modfile_type_string);
     b.write_string(LFORTRAN_VERSION);
@@ -54,7 +59,11 @@ std::string save_modfile(const ASR::TranslationUnit_t &m) {
 
 ASR::TranslationUnit_t* load_modfile(Allocator &al, const std::string &s,
         bool load_symtab_id, SymbolTable &symtab) {
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
     BinaryReader b(s);
+#else
+    TextReader b(s);
+#endif
     std::string file_type = b.read_string();
     if (file_type != lfortran_modfile_type_string) {
         throw LFortranException("LFortran Modfile format not recognized");
diff --git a/src/lfortran/serialization.cpp b/src/lfortran/serialization.cpp
index 055fdf8a46..87aa326228 100644
--- a/src/lfortran/serialization.cpp
+++ b/src/lfortran/serialization.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <string>
 
+#include <lfortran/config.h>
 #include <lfortran/serialization.h>
 #include <lfortran/parser/parser.h>
 #include <lfortran/parser/parser.tab.hh>
@@ -7,15 +8,11 @@
 #include <lfortran/asr_verify.h>
 #include <lfortran/bwriter.h>
 
-// Comment this out to enable human readable text Writer/Reader
-// Useful for debugging.
-#define SER_BINARY
 
 namespace LFortran {
 
-
 class ASTSerializationVisitor :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
         public BinaryWriter,
 #else
         public TextWriter,
@@ -44,7 +41,7 @@ std::string serialize(const AST::TranslationUnit_t &unit) {
 }
 
 class ASTDeserializationVisitor :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
     public BinaryReader,
 #else
     public TextReader,
@@ -53,7 +50,7 @@ class ASTDeserializationVisitor :
 {
 public:
     ASTDeserializationVisitor(Allocator &al, const std::string &s) :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
         BinaryReader(s),
 #else
         TextReader(s),
@@ -82,7 +79,7 @@ AST::ast_t* deserialize_ast(Allocator &al, const std::string &s) {
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 class ASRSerializationVisitor :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
         public BinaryWriter,
 #else
         public TextWriter,
@@ -117,17 +114,17 @@ std::string serialize(const ASR::TranslationUnit_t &unit) {
 }
 
 class ASRDeserializationVisitor :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
-    public BinaryReader,
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
+        public BinaryReader,
 #else
-    public TextReader,
+        public TextReader,
 #endif
         public ASR::DeserializationBaseVisitor<ASRDeserializationVisitor>
 {
 public:
     ASRDeserializationVisitor(Allocator &al, const std::string &s,
         bool load_symtab_id) :
-#ifdef SER_BINARY
+#ifdef WITH_LFORTRAN_BINARY_MODFILES
             BinaryReader(s),
 #else
             TextReader(s),