diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9313c8995..28aa64170 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -258,15 +258,21 @@ AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.17])
 m4_ifdef([AM_GNU_GETTEXT], [
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
 po_makefile_in=po/Makefile.in
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO], [true])
+have_po="yes"
 ],[
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO], [false])
+have_po="no"
 ])
 AC_SUBST(LTLIBINTL)
 if test "x$LIBINTL" = "x"; then
   LIBINTL="$INTLLIBS"
 fi
 
+if test "x${POSUB}" = "x" ; then
+   have_po="no"
+fi
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO], [test "x${have_po}" = "xyes"])
+
 AC_CHECK_LIB(dl, dlopen, dlopen_libs=-ldl)
 AC_SUBST(dlopen_libs)