diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f38c2c26..fb439375 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
    Update Scintilla to version 1.76.
  * src/highlighting.c, data/filetypes.diff:
    Add new style 'Changed' to filetype Diff.
+ * autogen.sh, Makefile.am:
+   Require automake 1.7 or later.
 
 
 2008-10-17  Enrico Tröger  <enrico(dot)troeger(at)uvena(dot)de>
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 36c35ed6..40ea2c0f 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 SUBDIRS = tagmanager scintilla src plugins icons po doc
 
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS =	1.7
+
 WIN32_BUILD_FILES = \
 	geany_private.rc \
     win32-config.h \
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index c19e6a4c..3ac4a083 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ DIE=0
 
 (automake --version) < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 || {
 	echo
-	echo "**Error**: You must have \`automake' installed."
+	echo "**Error**: You must have \`automake' (1.7 or later) installed."
 	echo "You can get it from: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/"
 	DIE=1
 	NO_AUTOMAKE=yes