diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ed8026d2..03c7f4ce 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -24,16 +24,8 @@ AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([mu/mu.cc])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 
-m4_ifndef([AX_COMPILER_FLAGS],[
-    AC_MSG_ERROR([
-  *** autoconf-archive >= 20150925 required for the build setup.
-  *** Please install it, or get an official release from
-  ***    https://github.com/djcb/mu/releases
-])
-])
-
-AX_IS_RELEASE([git-directory])
-AX_CHECK_ENABLE_DEBUG([yes])
+m4_ifdef([AX_IS_RELEASE],[AX_IS_RELEASE([git-directory])])
+m4_ifdef([AX_CHECK_ENABLE_DEBUG],[AX_CHECK_ENABLE_DEBUG([yes])])
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.14 foreign no-dist-gzip tar-ustar dist-xz])
 
@@ -53,7 +45,7 @@ AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 
 AX_CXX_COMPILE_STDCXX_14
-AX_COMPILER_FLAGS(,,[yes])
+m4_ifdef([AX_COMPILER_FLAGS],[AX_COMPILER_FLAGS(,,[yes])])
 AX_VALGRIND_CHECK
 
 # for now, use AM_PROG_LIBTOOL, as we don't want to require
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e.texi b/mu4e/mu4e.texi
index 8e7bddab..f56cdfbe 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e.texi
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e.texi
@@ -317,8 +317,8 @@ Xapian, GMime and their dependencies must be installed.
 
 Alternatively, if you build from the git repository or use a tarball
 like the ones that @t{github} produces, the instructions are slightly
-different, and require you to have @t{autotools} (@t{autoconf},
-@t{autoconf-archive}, @t{automake}, @t{libtool}, @t{texinfo}) installed:
+different, and require you to have autotools (@t{autoconf},
+@t{automake}, @t{libtool}, @t{texinfo}) installed:
 
 @example
 # get from git (alternatively, use a github tarball)