diff --git a/guile-readline/configure.in b/guile-readline/configure.in
index 41e87fd9e..7a947d079 100644
--- a/guile-readline/configure.in
+++ b/guile-readline/configure.in
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ done
 
 AC_CHECK_LIB(readline, main)
 if test $ac_cv_lib_readline_main = no; then
-  AC_MSG_ERROR([libreadline was not found on your system.])
+  AC_MSG_WARN([libreadline was not found on your system.])
 fi
 
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(rl_clear_signals rl_cleanup_after_signal)