--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ else
 SOLIB_VERSION_OPTS =
 endif
 
+AR	= @AR@
 CC	= @CC@
 CPPFLAGS= @CPPFLAGS@
 CFLAGS	= @CFLAGS@ -I. -Iinclude -I$(srcdir) -I$(srcdir)/include
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ solib-message.o: message.c
 
 ifeq ($(BUILD_STATIC),1)
 $(LIB): $(LIBOBJS)
-	ar cr $@ $(LIBOBJS)
+	$(AR) cr $@ $(LIBOBJS)
 else
 $(LIB):
 endif
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([aclocal])
 
 AC_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h)
 
+AM_PROG_AR
 AC_PROG_CC
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AC_C_BIGENDIAN