automake-1.14 freaks out if AM_PROG_AR is not defined. --- configure.ac.orig 2014-02-17 19:47:41.572637701 +0100 +++ configure.ac 2014-02-17 19:47:54.604474781 +0100 @@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_HEADER([src/lib/config.h]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wall -Werror foreign]) AM_MAINTAINER_MODE +AM_PROG_AR AC_CANONICAL_HOST CANONICAL_HOST=$host