diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index ae5baa5d5..2e5e015c8 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ AC_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_PROG_MKDIR_P
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
+AC_CHECK_TOOL(AR, ar)
 AC_PATH_TOOL(CFLOW_CMD, cflow)
 AC_PATH_TOOL(CSCOPE_CMD, cscope)
 AC_PATH_TOOL(CHMOD, chmod)
diff --git a/make.tmpl.in b/make.tmpl.in
index a40eaaa15..cb5953a8a 100644
--- a/make.tmpl.in
+++ b/make.tmpl.in
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ EGREP = @EGREP@
 GREP = @GREP@
 SORT = @SORT@
 WC = @WC@
-AR = ar
+AR = @AR@
 RM = rm -f
 
 PYTHON2 = @PYTHON2@