diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8166a56e8..271ac3c2d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -704,6 +704,7 @@ dnl i18n tests
 #fi
 #AC_CHECK_FUNCS([bindtextdomain textdomain])
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external], [need-ngettext])
+AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.18.1])
 
 ### Some systems don't declare some functions.  On such systems, we
 ### need to at least provide our own K&R-style declarations.