diff --git a/config.h.in b/config.h.in
index 00a0f52..8a6d22f 100644
--- a/config.h.in
+++ b/config.h.in
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <inttypes.h> header file. */
 #undef HAVE_INTTYPES_H
 
+/* Define to 1 if you have the `c' library (-lc). */
+#undef HAVE_LIBC
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `iconv' library (-liconv). */
 #undef HAVE_LIBICONV
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e03bd4c..2b36225 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -40,8 +40,10 @@ if test "x$enable_unicode" = xyes; then
          [AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ncurses/curses.h],[:],
             [AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ncurses.h],[:],[missing_headers="$missing_headers $ac_header"])])])])
    AC_CHECK_LIB([iconv], [iconv], [], [
-      missing_libraries="$missing_libraries libiconv"
-      AC_MSG_ERROR([You may want to use --disable-unicode or install libiconv.])
+     AC_CHECK_LIB([c], [iconv], [], [
+       missing_libraries="$missing_libraries libiconv"
+       AC_MSG_ERROR([You may want to use --disable-unicode or install libiconv.])
+     ])
    ])
 else
    AC_CHECK_LIB([ncurses], [refresh], [], [missing_libraries="$missing_libraries libncurses"])