diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 8bcb98e8853..3973667330d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ matrix:
         apt:
           sources: ['ubuntu-toolchain-r-test']
           packages: ['g++-6', 'libbz2-dev', 'libstxxl-dev', 'libstxxl1', 'libxml2-dev', 'libzip-dev', 'lua5.1', 'liblua5.1-0-dev', 'libtbb-dev', 'libgdal-dev', 'libluabind-dev', 'libboost-all-dev', 'ccache']
-      env: CCOMPILER='gcc-6' CXXCOMPILER='g++-6' BUILD_TYPE='Debug' COVERAGE=ON
+      env: CCOMPILER='gcc-6' CXXCOMPILER='g++-6' BUILD_TYPE='Debug' ENABLE_COVERAGE=ON ENABLE_SANITIZER=ON
 
     - os: linux
       compiler: "clang-3.8-debug"
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ install:
     fi
   - mkdir build && pushd build
   - export CC=${CCOMPILER} CXX=${CXXCOMPILER}
-  - cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE} -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS:-OFF} -DCOVERAGE=${COVERAGE:-OFF} -DBUILD_TOOLS=ON -DBUILD_COMPONENTS=ON -DENABLE_CCACHE=ON
+  - cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE} -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS:-OFF} -DENABLE_COVERAGE=${ENABLE_COVERAGE:-OFF} -DENABLE_SANITIZER=${ENABLE_SANITIZER:-OFF} -DBUILD_TOOLS=ON -DBUILD_COMPONENTS=ON -DENABLE_CCACHE=ON
   - echo "travis_fold:start:MAKE"
   - make osrm-extract --jobs=3
   - make --jobs=${JOBS}
@@ -171,6 +171,6 @@ after_success:
       ./scripts/format.sh # we don't want to fail just yet
     fi
   - |
-    if [ -n "${COVERAGE}" ]; then
+    if [ -n "${ENABLE_COVERAGE}" ]; then
       bash <(curl -s https://codecov.io/bash)
     fi
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5dee28a88e1..e0f2e779530 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ endif()
 option(ENABLE_CCACHE "Speed up incremental rebuilds via ccache" ON)
 option(BUILD_TOOLS "Build OSRM tools" OFF)
 option(BUILD_COMPONENTS "Build osrm-components" OFF)
-option(ENABLE_ASSERTIONS OFF)
-option(COVERAGE OFF)
-option(SANITIZER OFF)
+option(ENABLE_ASSERTIONS "Use assertions in release mode" OFF)
+option(ENABLE_COVERAGE "Build with coverage instrumentalisation" OFF)
+option(ENABLE_SANITIZER "Use memory sanitizer for Debug build" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_LTO "Use LTO if available" ON)
 option(ENABLE_FUZZING "Fuzz testing using LLVM's libFuzzer" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_GOLD_LINKER "Use GNU gold linker if available" ON)
@@ -109,7 +109,6 @@ if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
   if(NOT ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "MSVC")
 
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fno-inline -fno-omit-frame-pointer")
-
   if("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "GNU")
     set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -Og -ggdb")
   endif()
@@ -175,17 +174,17 @@ if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Release)
 endif()
 
 set(MAYBE_COVERAGE_LIBRARIES "")
-if (COVERAGE)
+if (ENABLE_COVERAGE)
   if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES "Debug")
-    message(ERROR "COVERAGE=ON only make sense with a Debug build")
+    message(ERROR "ENABLE_COVERAGE=ON only make sense with a Debug build")
   endif()
   message(INFO "Enabling coverage")
   set(MAYBE_COVERAGE_LIBRARIES "gcov")
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -ftest-coverage -fprofile-arcs")
 endif()
-if (SANITIZER)
+if (ENABLE_SANITIZER)
   if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES "Debug")
-    message(ERROR "SANITIZER=ON only make sense with a Debug build")
+    message(ERROR "ENABLE_SANITIZER=ON only make sense with a Debug build")
   endif()
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fsanitize=address")
 endif()