diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index ce63cc9a3..5060b36a4 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = LICENSE HACKING GUILE-VERSION FAQ guile-1.8.pc.in	\
 
 TESTS = check-guile
 
-ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I guile-config -I m4
+ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
 DISTCLEANFILES = check-guile.log
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index e77f460d1..c71dbd8dd 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ AC_INIT(patsubst(m4_esyscmd(. ./GUILE-VERSION && echo ${PACKAGE}),[
 ]),
         [bug-guile@gnu.org])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
+AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(GUILE-VERSION)
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([gnu no-define check-news -Wall -Wno-override])
diff --git a/m4/.gitignore b/m4/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64d9bbcdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/libtool.m4
+/lt*.m4