diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 79b191f..98e4896 100755
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -137,15 +137,35 @@ dnl --------------
 dnl Check programs
 dnl --------------
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
+AC_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_CHECK_TOOL(AR, ar)
-AC_CHECK_TOOL(RANLIB, ranlib, :)
 
 dnl ---------
 dnl AIX check
 dnl ---------
 AC_AIX
 
+dnl ---------------------------
+dnl We, perhaps unfortunately,
+dnl depend on GNU Make specific
+dnl constructs.
+dnl Give the user a warning if
+dnl not GNU Make.
+dnl ---------------------------
+AC_CACHE_CHECK([if ${MAKE-make} is GNU make], [quagga_cv_gnu_make],
+	[quagga_cv_gnu_make=no
+	 if ${MAKE-make} --version 2>/dev/null | \
+		grep '^GNU Make ' >/dev/null ; then
+	 	quagga_cv_gnu_make=yes;
+	 fi])
+if test $quagga_cv_gnu_make != "yes"; then
+	echo "	**Warning**: Note that GNU Make is required."
+	echo "	You may wish to run configure with MAKE=gmake, ala:"
+	echo "	  ./configure MAKE=gmake ...."
+	echo "	alternatively, ensure you use GNU make to build"
+fi
+		
 dnl -------
 dnl libtool
 dnl -------
@@ -340,11 +360,28 @@ changequote([, ])dnl
 
 AC_SUBST(MULTIPATH_NUM)
 
-dnl -------------------
-dnl Check header files.
-dnl -------------------
+dnl ------------------------------------
+dnl Check C keywords and standard  types
+dnl ------------------------------------
+AC_C_CONST
+AC_C_INLINE
+AC_C_RESTRICT
+AC_C_VOLATILE
 AC_HEADER_STDC
-AC_CHECK_HEADERS([string.h stropts.h sys/conf.h sys/ksym.h sys/time.h \
+AC_HEADER_STDBOOL
+AC_HEADER_TIME
+AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT
+dnl AC_TYPE_PID_T
+AC_TYPE_UID_T
+AC_TYPE_MODE_T
+AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
+AC_TYPE_SIGNAL
+AC_STRUCT_TM
+
+dnl -------------------------
+dnl Check other header files.
+dnl -------------------------
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stropts.h sys/conf.h sys/ksym.h \
                  sys/times.h sys/select.h sys/sysctl.h sys/sockio.h \
                  sys/types.h linux/version.h kvm.h netdb.h asm/types.h \
                  sys/param.h libutil.h limits.h stdint.h])
@@ -353,12 +390,10 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/socket.h netinet/i
 		 net/if_dl.h net/netopt.h inet/nd.h net/route.h \
 		 net/if.h net/if_var.h netinet/in_var.h])
 
-dnl V6 headers are checked below, after we check for v6
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([arpa/inet.h fcntl.h libintl.h stddef.h sys/ioctl.h \
+		 syslog.h wchar.h wctype.h])
 
-dnl check some types
-AC_C_CONST
-dnl AC_TYPE_PID_T
-AC_TYPE_SIGNAL
+dnl V6 headers are checked below, after we check for v6
 
 dnl Some systems (Solaris 2.x) require libnsl (Network Services Library)
 case "$host" in
@@ -520,9 +555,30 @@ dnl AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(long)
 dnl ----------------------------
 dnl check existance of functions
 dnl ----------------------------
-AC_CHECK_FUNCS(memset memcpy strerror inet_aton daemon snprintf vsnprintf \
-               strlcat strlcpy if_nametoindex if_indextoname getifaddrs \
-	       fcntl strnlen strndup)
+AC_FUNC_CHOWN
+AC_FUNC_FNMATCH
+AC_FUNC_FORK
+AC_FUNC_MALLOC
+AC_FUNC_MEMCMP
+AC_FUNC_MKTIME
+AC_FUNC_STRFTIME
+AC_FUNC_REALLOC
+AC_FUNC_STAT
+AC_FUNC_SELECT_ARGTYPES
+AC_FUNC_STRFTIME
+AC_FUNC_STRNLEN
+AC_FUNC_VPRINTF
+
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS(dup2 ftruncate getcwd gethostbyname getpagesize gettimeofday \
+	       inet_ntoa \
+	       memchr memmove memset pow select socket \
+               strcasecmp strchr strcspn strdup strerror \
+               strncasecmp strndup strrchr strspn strstr \
+               strtol strtoul strlcat strlcpy \
+               daemon snprintf vsnprintf \
+               if_nametoindex if_indextoname getifaddrs \ 
+               uname fcntl)
+
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(setproctitle, ,
   [AC_CHECK_LIB(util, setproctitle, 
      [LIBS="$LIBS -lutil"
@@ -1363,6 +1419,7 @@ host operationg system  : ${host_os}
 source code location    : ${srcdir}
 compiler                : ${CC}
 compiler flags          : ${CFLAGS}
+make                    : ${MAKE-make}
 includes                : ${INCLUDES} ${SNMP_INCLUDES}
 linker flags            : ${LDFLAGS} ${LIBS} ${LIBCAP} ${LIBREADLINE}
 state file directory    : ${quagga_statedir}
@@ -1375,5 +1432,10 @@ config file mask        : ${enable_confi
 log file mask           : ${enable_logfile_mask}
 
 The above user and group must have read/write access to the state file
-directory and to the config files in the config file directory.
-"
+directory and to the config files in the config file directory."
+
+if test x"$quagga_cv_gnu_make" = x"no"; then echo "
+Warning: The detected ${MAKE-make} programme in your path is not GNU
+Make, which is required to build certain parts of Quagga. GNU Make is
+installed as 'gmake' on some systems."
+fi