diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 1d5ba91f..5876eded 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ configure has the following medit-specific options:
     be available.
 
   --with-custom-codegen   whether to use custom copy of pygtk codegen (default
-                          = YES)
+                          = yes with pygtk-2.8)
     medit uses patched pygtk codegen to allow docstrings in generated code. It's
-    unlikely you want to use this option. Still, in case of problems with python,
-    patched codegen may be the source of problem, so using upstream codegen may
-    be forced.
+    unlikely you want to use this option, and it's not advised to use it if you
+    are not sure what codegen is. Still, in case of problems with python, patched
+    codegen may be the source of problem, so using upstream codegen may be forced.
 
   --with-system-pcre      whether to use system copy of pcre library (default
                           = YES)
diff --git a/m4/moo-pygtk.m4 b/m4/moo-pygtk.m4
index 8fd5997a..b0c849ed 100644
--- a/m4/moo-pygtk.m4
+++ b/m4/moo-pygtk.m4
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # _MOO_AC_PYGTK_CODEGEN
 #
 AC_DEFUN([_MOO_AC_PYGTK_CODEGEN],[
-    AC_ARG_WITH([custom-codegen], AC_HELP_STRING([--with-custom-codegen], [whether to use custom copy of pygtk codegen (default = YES)]),[
+    AC_ARG_WITH([custom-codegen], AC_HELP_STRING([--with-custom-codegen], [whether to use custom copy of pygtk codegen (default = yes with pygtk 2.8)]),[
         if test x$with_custom_codegen = "xno"; then
             MOO_USE_CUSTOM_CODEGEN="no"
             AC_MSG_NOTICE([using installed codegen])
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@ AC_DEFUN([_MOO_AC_PYGTK_CODEGEN],[
             AC_MSG_NOTICE([using patched codegen])
         fi
     ],[
-        if $PKG_CONFIG "pygtk-2.0 >= 2.8"; then
-            AC_MSG_NOTICE([pygtk >= 2.8, using patched codegen])
+        if $PKG_CONFIG "pygtk-2.0 >= 2.8 pygtk-2.0 < 2.9"; then
+            AC_MSG_NOTICE([pygtk-2.8, using patched codegen])
             MOO_USE_CUSTOM_CODEGEN=yes
         else
-            AC_MSG_NOTICE([pygtk < 2.8, using installed codegen])
+            AC_MSG_NOTICE([pygtk version different from 2.8, using installed codegen])
             MOO_USE_CUSTOM_CODEGEN=no
         fi
     ])