diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3ca3cfd4..29e73282 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_DOXYGEN], [test -n "$HAVE_DOXYGEN"])
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.11 -Wall -Werror foreign])
 
-AM_PROG_AR
+m4_ifdef([AM_PROG_AR], [AM_PROG_AR])
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
 
 AC_OUTPUT