diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 0ff97a8c..4c33fdc8 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST =			\
 
 DIST_SUBDIRS = m4
 
-ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4 $(ACLOCAL_FLAGS)
+ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = $(ACLOCAL_FLAGS)
 
 AM_CFLAGS =					\
     -I$(top_builddir)				\
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 7552fc4b..1c8efcc5 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ cd $srcdir
 echo "Generating configuration files..."
 
 ACLOCAL=${ACLOCAL:-aclocal-1.9}
+ACLOCAL_FLAGS="$ACLOCAL_FLAGS $aclocal_extra"
 AUTOMAKE=${AUTOMAKE:-automake-1.9}
 
 LIBTOOLIZE=${LIBTOOLIZE:-libtoolize}
@@ -24,8 +25,8 @@ AUTOCONF=${AUTOCONF:-autoconf}
 echo $LIBTOOLIZE --automake --copy
 $LIBTOOLIZE --automake --copy || exit $?
 
-echo $ACLOCAL $ACLOCAL_FLAGS $aclocal_extra
-$ACLOCAL $ACLOCAL_FLAGS $aclocal_extra || exit $?
+echo $ACLOCAL $ACLOCAL_FLAGS
+$ACLOCAL $ACLOCAL_FLAGS || exit $?
 
 echo $AUTOHEADER
 $AUTOHEADER || exit $?
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2a0ed35e..6fbb4a06 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 MOO_AC_PROGS
 
+if test -z $ACLOCAL_FLAGS; then
+    ACLOCAL_FLAGS="-I $top_srcdir/m4"
+fi
 AC_SUBST(ACLOCAL_FLAGS)
 
 #  Misc stuff