diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6c0dc9fc0..88b82deb8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ generated-stamp
 install-sh
 libtool
 ltmain.sh
+m4/
 missing
 policy.config
 policy.*.config
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2e39940d6..9ae506586 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.10 no-dist-gzip dist-bzip2 tar-ustar foreign])
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(config.h)
 AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
+AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
 API_VERSION=3.0.0.0
 AC_SUBST(API_VERSION)