--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ fi
 #
 AC_PROG_CC
 AC_PROG_CXX
+AM_PROG_AR
 if (test "$GXX" = yes) then
   AC_MSG_CHECKING([g++ compiler version])
   GXX_VERSION=`$CXX -dumpversion`