diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 01ef89e60..34ebb80f5 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ OPTION (MSGPACK_CXX11 "Using c++11 compiler" OFF)
 OPTION (MSGPACK_32BIT "32bit compile" OFF)
 OPTION (MSGPACK_BOOST "Using boost libraries" OFF)
 
+SET (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-DMSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")
+
 IF (APPLE)
     SET(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH ON)
     SET(CMAKE_SKIP_BUILD_RPATH FALSE)
diff --git a/QUICKSTART-CPP.md b/QUICKSTART-CPP.md
index 8261a95ad..29c1e2d6e 100644
--- a/QUICKSTART-CPP.md
+++ b/QUICKSTART-CPP.md
@@ -47,11 +47,13 @@ int main(void) {
 Compile it as follows:
 
 ```
-$ g++ hello.cc -o hello
+$ g++ -Ipath_to_msgpack/include -DMSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL hello.cc -o hello
 $ ./hello
 ["Hello", "MessagePack"]
 ```
 
+See [MSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL](https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-c/wiki/v1_1_cpp_configure#msgpack_disable_legacy_nil-since-140).
+
 ## Streaming feature
 
 ```cpp
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ int main(void) {
         }
 
         // results:
-        // $ g++ stream.cc -o stream
+        // $ g++ -Ipath_to_msgpack/include -DMSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL stream.cc -o stream
         // $ ./stream
         // "Log message ... 1"
         // "Log message ... 2"
@@ -91,6 +93,8 @@ int main(void) {
 }
 ```
 
+See [MSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL](https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-c/wiki/v1_1_cpp_configure#msgpack_disable_legacy_nil-since-140).
+
 ### Streaming into an array or map
 
 ```cpp
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ab489263e..a202e78ed 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,7 +112,9 @@ Usage
 When you use msgpack on C++03 and C++11, you can just add
 msgpack-c/include to your include path:
 
-    g++ -I msgpack-c/include your_source_file.cpp
+    g++ -I msgpack-c/include -DMSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL your_source_file.cpp
+
+See [MSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL](https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-c/wiki/v1_1_cpp_configure#msgpack_disable_legacy_nil-since-140).
 
 If you want to use C version of msgpack, you need to build it. You can
 also install the C and C++ versions of msgpack.
diff --git a/test/Makefile.am b/test/Makefile.am
index 5f451d025..35aa4b655 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AM_CPPFLAGS   = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -pthread
+AM_CPPFLAGS   = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -pthread -DMSGPACK_DISABLE_LEGACY_NIL
 AM_C_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -pthread
 AM_LDFLAGS = $(top_builddir)/src/libmsgpackc.la -lgtest_main -lgtest -lpthread