diff --git a/legacy/evas/configure.in b/legacy/evas/configure.in
index b1ff11ee67..42b5cad6d0 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/configure.in
+++ b/legacy/evas/configure.in
@@ -1157,11 +1157,19 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(pthreads,
   AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-pthreads], [enable threaded rendering]),
   [
       if test "x$enableval" = "xyes" ; then
-        AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
-        AC_DEFINE(BUILD_PTHREAD, 1, [Build Threaded Rendering])
-        build_pthreads="yes"
-        pthread_cflags=""
-        pthread_libs="-lpthread"
+        if test "x$build_pthreads" = "xyes"; then
+          AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+          AC_DEFINE(BUILD_PTHREAD, 1, [Build Threaded Rendering])
+          build_pthreads="yes"
+          pthread_cflags=""
+          pthread_libs="-lpthread"
+        else
+          if "x$use_strict" = "xyes"; then
+            AC_MSG_ERROR(pthreads headers or functions not found (strict dependencies checking))
+          else
+            AC_MSG_RESULT(no: pthread headers or functions not found)
+          fi
+        fi
       else
         AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
         build_pthreads="no"