diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8ae4574e..79ebe3e8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,10 +2,15 @@ AC_INIT([libwebp], [0.1.3],
         [http://code.google.com/p/webp/issues],,
         [http://code.google.com/speed/webp])
 AC_CANONICAL_TARGET
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wall foreign silent-rules subdir-objects])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wall foreign subdir-objects])
 AC_PROG_LIBTOOL
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 
+dnl === Enable less verbose output when building.
+dnl === If an older aclocal exits with an error comment these lines out.
+m4_define_default([AM_SILENT_RULES], [])
+AM_SILENT_RULES
+
 AC_ARG_WITH([pkgconfigdir], AS_HELP_STRING([--with-pkgconfigdir=PATH],
 	[Path to the pkgconfig directory [[LIBDIR/pkgconfig]]]),
 	[pkgconfigdir="$withval"], [pkgconfigdir='${libdir}/pkgconfig'])