diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a998acec9f0..79e0845150e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ esac
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([PWDREGRESS], [PWDREGRESS], [Define command to determine the current directory during regression])
 AC_SUBST([PWDREGRESS])
 
+AC_PATH_PROG([PERL], [perl], [])
+AC_SUBST([PERL])
 
 dnl ===========================================================================
 dnl Find components needed to build documentation
@@ -1004,6 +1006,7 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT([  Libxml2 config:       ${XML2CONFIG}])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([  Libxml2 version:      ${POSTGIS_LIBXML2_VERSION}])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([  JSON-C support:       ${HAVE_JSON}])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([  PostGIS debug level:  ${POSTGIS_DEBUG_LEVEL}])
+AC_MSG_RESULT([  perl:                 ${PERL}])
 if test "x$RASTER" = "xraster" -o "x$TOPOLOGY" = "xtopology"; then
     AC_MSG_RESULT([ -------------- Extensions -------------- ])
 if test "x$RASTER" = "xraster"; then
diff --git a/postgis/Makefile.in b/postgis/Makefile.in
index 8e60013dc09..a07d869631f 100644
--- a/postgis/Makefile.in
+++ b/postgis/Makefile.in
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ PG_CONFIG = @PGCONFIG@
 PGXS := @PGXS@
 include $(PGXS)
 
+# Set PERL _after_ the include of PGXS
+PERL=@PERL@
+
 # This is to workaround a bug in PGXS 8.4 win32 link line,
 # see http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/ticket/1158#comment:57
 SHLIB_LINK := $(SHLIB_LINK_F) $(SHLIB_LINK)
diff --git a/raster/rt_pg/Makefile.in b/raster/rt_pg/Makefile.in
index 25454337027..c2e51096f9e 100644
--- a/raster/rt_pg/Makefile.in
+++ b/raster/rt_pg/Makefile.in
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ PG_CONFIG = @PGCONFIG@
 PGXS := @PGXS@
 include $(PGXS)
 
+# Set PERL _after_ the include of PGXS
+PERL=@PERL@
+
 # This is to workaround a bug in PGXS 8.4 win32 link line,
 # see http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/ticket/1158#comment:57
 SHLIB_LINK := $(SHLIB_LINK_F) $(SHLIB_LINK)
diff --git a/topology/Makefile.in b/topology/Makefile.in
index cabe44bd974..d862d3c78f5 100644
--- a/topology/Makefile.in
+++ b/topology/Makefile.in
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ PG_CONFIG = @PGCONFIG@
 PGXS := @PGXS@
 include $(PGXS)
 
+# Set PERL _after_ the include of PGXS
+PERL=@PERL@
+
 # PGXS override feature. The ability to allow PostGIS to install itself
 # in a versioned directory is only available in PostgreSQL >= 8.5. To
 # do this by default on older PostgreSQL versions, we need to override