diff --git a/crossplatform/configure.ac b/crossplatform/configure.ac
index e33a94a0d..f9218c5ce 100644
--- a/crossplatform/configure.ac
+++ b/crossplatform/configure.ac
@@ -81,17 +81,27 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(mp3,
 [  --with-mp3              built support for Mp3 files (default)],
 [ mp3=$withval ], [ mp3=yes ])
 
+# windows conditional
+case $host_os in
+  *mingw32* ) MINGW32=yes;;
+          * ) MINGW32=no;;
+esac
+if test x"$MINGW32" = "xyes"; then
+  AC_DEFINE(WIN32, 1, [Windows build])
+  LIBS="$LIBS -lmingw32"
+fi
+
 AM_PATH_SDL([1.1.4], [sdl_found="yes"], [sdl_found="no"])
 if test "$sdl_found" = yes; then
-  CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $SDL_CFLAGS"
-  CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $SDL_CFLAGS"
-  LIBS="$LIBS $SDL_LIBS"
+  WZ_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $SDL_CFLAGS"
+  WZ_CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $SDL_CFLAGS"
+  WZ_LIBS="$WZ_LIBS $SDL_LIBS"
 else
   AC_MSG_ERROR([You need to install SDL (http://www.libsdl.org/).])
 fi
 
 AC_PATH_SDLNET([
-	CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $SDLNETINC" LIBS="$LIBS $SDLNETLIB"],
+	WZ_CPPFLAGS="$WZ_CPPFLAGS $SDLNETINC" WZ_LIBS="$WZ_LIBS $SDLNETLIB"],
 	AC_MSG_ERROR(SDL_net is not installed))
 
 if test "x$opengl" != xno; then
@@ -121,7 +131,7 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB(jpeg, main, , [AC_MSG_ERROR([You need to install the jpeg library.]
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([OpenGL])
 if test "x$opengl" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(WZ_OPENGL, 1, [OpenGL acceleration])
-  LIBS="$LIBS -l$GLLIB -ljpeg"
+  WZ_LIBS="$WZ_LIBS -l$GLLIB -ljpeg"
   AC_SUBST(RENDERER, "ivis_opengl")
   AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 else
@@ -134,6 +144,8 @@ if test "x$openal" != xno; then
   AL_lib=yes
   AC_CHECK_LIB(openal, main, ALLIB=openal, 
                [AC_CHECK_LIB(openal32, main, ALLIB=openal32, AL_lib=no)])
+  # On Windows (and perhaps some other platforms), Alut is a separate library
+  AC_CHECK_LIB(alut, main, ALUTLIB="-lalut", ALUTLIB="")
   if test "x$AL_lib" = "xno"; then
     if test "x$openal" = xyes; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([You need to install OpenAL.])
@@ -154,7 +166,7 @@ if test "x$openal" != xno; then
 fi
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([OpenAL])
 if test "x$openal" = xyes; then
-  LIBS="$LIBS -l$ALLIB"
+  WZ_LIBS="$WZ_LIBS -l$ALLIB $ALUTLIB"
   AC_DEFINE(WZ_OPENAL, 1, [OpenAL support])
   AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 else
@@ -177,7 +189,7 @@ else
       if test "x$have_vorbis" = "xyes"
       then
         oggmusic=yes
-        LIBS="$LIBS -lvorbisfile -lvorbis -logg"
+        WZ_LIBS="$WZ_LIBS -lvorbisfile -lvorbis -logg"
       else
         AC_DEFINE(WZ_NOOGG, 1, [Disable ogg vorbis support])
       fi
@@ -204,14 +216,11 @@ fi
 # -m32 forces 32-bit compile, since code is not clean enough for 64-bit yet
 CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -Wall -DYY_STATIC -m32"
 
-# windows conditional
-case $host_os in
-  *mingw32* ) MINGW32=yes;;
-          * ) MINGW32=no;;
-esac
-if test x"$MINGW32" = "xyes"; then
-  AC_DEFINE(WIN32, 1, [Windows build])
-fi
+# only now set the LIBS/CFLAGS/CPPFLAGS lines, if set earlier it will give 
+# strange error messages when something is wrong
+LIBS="$LIBS $WZ_LIBS"
+CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $WZ_CFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $WZ_CPPFLAGS"
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
                  lib/Makefile