--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL
 dnl AC_PROG_INSTALL  included in AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
 dnl AC_PROG_MAKE_SET included in AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
+AM_PROG_AR
 AC_ISC_POSIX
 AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT