diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4e37036..3fa0631 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AC_CANONICAL_TARGET
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.6 dist-bzip2])
+m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
 
 AC_ISC_POSIX