diff --git a/src/libraries/liboop/configure.ac b/src/libraries/liboop/configure.ac
index 73ed5473e32730bf813078b87a7bcc1fa40a6437..4d764784ea653f34d30f83242968f867f11898fd 100644
--- a/src/libraries/liboop/configure.ac
+++ b/src/libraries/liboop/configure.ac
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ dnl Checks for programs.
 AC_PROG_CC
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
+AC_PATH_PROG([AR], [ar], [notfound], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR/usr/ccs/bin])
+AC_ARG_VAR([AR], [ar program to use])
+[if test "$AR" = "notfound"; then]
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot find ``ar''])
+[fi]
 
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(poll.h sys/select.h sys/socket.h)