diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1cbc698d69..eaf7295b0f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -242,14 +242,14 @@ AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.17])
 m4_ifdef([AC_GNU_GETTEXT], [
 AC_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
 po_makefile_in=po/Makefile.in
-po_makevars="${srcdir}/po/Makevars:po/Makevars.in"
+po_makevars=po/Makevars
 have_po="yes"
 ],
 [
 m4_ifdef([AM_GNU_GETTEXT], [
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
 po_makefile_in=po/Makefile.in
-po_makevars="${srcdir}/po/Makevars:po/Makevars.in"
+po_makevars=po/Makevars
 have_po="yes"
 ],
 [