diff --git a/configure/CONFIG_BASE b/configure/CONFIG_BASE
index d4a3f8a2e..07b5e435f 100644
--- a/configure/CONFIG_BASE
+++ b/configure/CONFIG_BASE
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ endif # EPICS_BASE
 # Epics base c preprocessor flags
 
 # c++ exceptions
-CXX_EXCEPTIONS = NO
+CXX_EXCEPTIONS = YES
 CXX_EXCEPTIONS_FLAGS_YES =
 CXX_EXCEPTIONS_FLAGS_NO = -DnoExceptionsFromCXX
 EPICS_BASE_CPPFLAGS = $(CXX_EXCEPTIONS_FLAGS_$(CXX_EXCEPTIONS))