diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0a7b290..b1b0be1 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -927,6 +927,7 @@ dnl i18n tests
 #fi
 #AC_CHECK_FUNCS([bindtextdomain textdomain])
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external], [need-ngettext])
+AM_GNU_GETTEXT_REQUIRE_VERSION([0.21])
 
 ### Some systems don't declare some functions.  On such systems, we
 ### need to at least provide our own K&R-style declarations.