diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index d5ae72e..7f8b810 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -534,6 +534,10 @@ dist-lzma: distdir
 	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | lzma -9 -c >$(distdir).tar.lzma
 	$(am__remove_distdir)
 
+dist-xz: distdir
+	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | xz -c >$(distdir).tar.xz
+	$(am__remove_distdir)
+
 dist-tarZ: distdir
 	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | compress -c >$(distdir).tar.Z
 	$(am__remove_distdir)
@@ -563,6 +567,8 @@ distcheck: dist
 	  bunzip2 -c $(distdir).tar.bz2 | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.tar.lzma*) \
 	  unlzma -c $(distdir).tar.lzma | $(am__untar) ;;\
+	*.tar.xz*) \
+	  xz -dc $(distdir).tar.xz | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.tar.Z*) \
 	  uncompress -c $(distdir).tar.Z | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.shar.gz*) \
@@ -720,18 +726,19 @@ uninstall-am: uninstall-binSCRIPTS
 .PHONY: $(RECURSIVE_CLEAN_TARGETS) $(RECURSIVE_TARGETS) CTAGS GTAGS \
 	all all-am am--refresh check check-am clean clean-generic \
 	ctags ctags-recursive dist dist-all dist-bzip2 dist-gzip \
-	dist-hook dist-lzma dist-shar dist-tarZ dist-zip distcheck \
-	distclean distclean-generic distclean-tags distcleancheck \
-	distdir distuninstallcheck dvi dvi-am html html-am info \
-	info-am install install-am install-binSCRIPTS install-data \
-	install-data-am install-dvi install-dvi-am install-exec \
-	install-exec-am install-exec-hook install-html install-html-am \
-	install-info install-info-am install-man install-pdf \
-	install-pdf-am install-ps install-ps-am install-strip \
-	installcheck installcheck-am installdirs installdirs-am \
-	maintainer-clean maintainer-clean-generic mostlyclean \
-	mostlyclean-generic pdf pdf-am ps ps-am tags tags-recursive \
-	uninstall uninstall-am uninstall-binSCRIPTS uninstall-hook
+	dist-hook dist-lzma dist-shar dist-tarZ dist-xz dist-zip \
+	distcheck distclean distclean-generic distclean-tags \
+	distcleancheck distdir distuninstallcheck dvi dvi-am html \
+	html-am info info-am install install-am install-binSCRIPTS \
+	install-data install-data-am install-dvi install-dvi-am \
+	install-exec install-exec-am install-exec-hook install-html \
+	install-html-am install-info install-info-am install-man \
+	install-pdf install-pdf-am install-ps install-ps-am \
+	install-strip installcheck installcheck-am installdirs \
+	installdirs-am maintainer-clean maintainer-clean-generic \
+	mostlyclean mostlyclean-generic pdf pdf-am ps ps-am tags \
+	tags-recursive uninstall uninstall-am uninstall-binSCRIPTS \
+	uninstall-hook
 
 
 install-exec-hook:
diff --git a/automake.in b/automake.in
index ac1c8c2..24bb193 100755
--- a/automake.in
+++ b/automake.in
@@ -3723,7 +3723,7 @@ sub handle_dist ()
     {
       my $archive_defined = option 'no-dist-gzip' ? 0 : 1;
       $archive_defined ||=
-	grep { option "dist-$_" } qw(shar zip tarZ bzip2 lzma);
+	grep { option "dist-$_" } qw(shar zip tarZ bzip2 lzma xz);
       error (option 'no-dist-gzip',
 	     "no-dist-gzip specified but no dist-* specified, "
 	     . "at least one archive format must be enabled")
@@ -6631,6 +6631,7 @@ sub make_paragraphs ($%)
 		 'MAINTAINER-MODE'
 		 => $seen_maint_mode ? subst ('MAINTAINER_MODE_TRUE') : '',
 
+		 'XZ'          => !! option 'dist-xz',
 		 'LZMA'        => !! option 'dist-lzma',
 		 'BZIP2'       => !! option 'dist-bzip2',
 		 'COMPRESS'    => !! option 'dist-tarZ',
diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi
index 2fe3adb..8797d33 100644
--- a/doc/automake.texi
+++ b/doc/automake.texi
@@ -8251,14 +8251,20 @@ Generate a gzip tar archive of the distribution.
 @trindex dist-gzip
 
 @item @code{dist-lzma}
-Generate a lzma tar archive of the distribution.  lzma archives are
-frequently smaller than @command{bzip2}-compressed archives.
+Generate an @samp{lzma} tar archive of the distribution.  @command{lzma}
+archives are frequently smaller than @command{bzip2}-compressed archives.
 @trindex dist-lzma
 
 @item @code{dist-shar}
 Generate a shar archive of the distribution.
 @trindex dist-shar
 
+@item @code{dist-xz}
+Generate an @samp{xz} tar archive of the distribution.  @command{xz}
+archives are frequently smaller than @command{bzip2}-compressed archives.
+The @samp{xz} format will soon (early 2009) displace the @samp{lzma} format.
+@trindex dist-xz
+
 @item @code{dist-zip}
 Generate a zip archive of the distribution.
 @trindex dist-zip
@@ -12319,4 +12325,4 @@ parentheses is the number of generated test cases.
 @c  LocalWords:  LTALLOCA MALLOC malloc memcmp strdup alloca libcompat xyz DFOO
 @c  LocalWords:  unprefixed buildable preprocessed DBAZ DDATADIR WARNINGCFLAGS
 @c  LocalWords:  LIBFOOCFLAGS LIBFOOLDFLAGS ftable testSubDir obj LIBTOOLFLAGS
-@c  LocalWords:  barexec Pinard's automatize initialize lzma
+@c  LocalWords:  barexec Pinard's automatize initialize lzma xz
diff --git a/lib/Automake/Options.pm b/lib/Automake/Options.pm
index 1705981..5750cd1 100644
--- a/lib/Automake/Options.pm
+++ b/lib/Automake/Options.pm
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ sub _process_option_list (\%$@)
       elsif ($_ eq 'no-installman' || $_ eq 'no-installinfo'
 	     || $_ eq 'dist-shar' || $_ eq 'dist-zip'
 	     || $_ eq 'dist-tarZ' || $_ eq 'dist-bzip2'
-	     || $_ eq 'dist-lzma'
+	     || $_ eq 'dist-lzma' || $_ eq 'dist-xz'
 	     || $_ eq 'no-dist-gzip' || $_ eq 'no-dist'
 	     || $_ eq 'dejagnu' || $_ eq 'no-texinfo.tex'
 	     || $_ eq 'readme-alpha' || $_ eq 'check-news'
diff --git a/lib/am/distdir.am b/lib/am/distdir.am
index 6f48293..218e65a 100644
--- a/lib/am/distdir.am
+++ b/lib/am/distdir.am
@@ -304,6 +304,12 @@ dist-lzma: distdir
 	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | lzma -9 -c >$(distdir).tar.lzma
 	$(am__remove_distdir)
 
+?XZ?DIST_ARCHIVES += $(distdir).tar.xz
+.PHONY: dist-xz
+dist-xz: distdir
+	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | xz -c >$(distdir).tar.xz
+	$(am__remove_distdir)
+
 ?COMPRESS?DIST_ARCHIVES += $(distdir).tar.Z
 .PHONY: dist-tarZ
 dist-tarZ: distdir
@@ -341,6 +347,7 @@ dist dist-all: distdir
 ?GZIP?	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | GZIP=$(GZIP_ENV) gzip -c >$(distdir).tar.gz
 ?BZIP2?	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | bzip2 -9 -c >$(distdir).tar.bz2
 ?LZMA?	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | lzma -9 -c >$(distdir).tar.lzma
+?XZ?	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | xz -c >$(distdir).tar.xz
 ?COMPRESS?	tardir=$(distdir) && $(am__tar) | compress -c >$(distdir).tar.Z
 ?SHAR?	shar $(distdir) | GZIP=$(GZIP_ENV) gzip -c >$(distdir).shar.gz
 ?ZIP?	-rm -f $(distdir).zip
@@ -368,6 +375,8 @@ distcheck: dist
 	  bunzip2 -c $(distdir).tar.bz2 | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.tar.lzma*) \
 	  unlzma -c $(distdir).tar.lzma | $(am__untar) ;;\
+	*.tar.xz*) \
+	  xz -dc $(distdir).tar.xz | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.tar.Z*) \
 	  uncompress -c $(distdir).tar.Z | $(am__untar) ;;\
 	*.shar.gz*) \
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 46fe0d5..9f9dc32 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -654,6 +654,7 @@ werror.test \
 werror2.test \
 whoami.test \
 xsource.test \
+xz.test \
 yacc.test \
 yacc2.test \
 yacc3.test \
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.in b/tests/Makefile.in
index 57451a2..64668e0 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.in
+++ b/tests/Makefile.in
@@ -807,6 +807,7 @@ werror.test \
 werror2.test \
 whoami.test \
 xsource.test \
+xz.test \
 yacc.test \
 yacc2.test \
 yacc3.test \
diff --git a/tests/xz.test b/tests/xz.test
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..93f4630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/xz.test
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# Copyright (C) 2008  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Check support for no-dist-gzip with xz
+
+required=xz
+. ./defs || Exit 1
+
+set -e
+
+cat > configure.in << 'END'
+AC_INIT([xz], [1.0])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([no-dist-gzip dist-xz])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
+AC_OUTPUT
+END
+
+cat > Makefile.am << 'END'
+test: distcheck
+	test $(DIST_ARCHIVES) = xz-1.0.tar.xz
+	test -f $(DIST_ARCHIVES)
+END
+
+$ACLOCAL
+$AUTOCONF
+$AUTOMAKE
+./configure
+$MAKE test