diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index fb260eb55..d7fa14829 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 #
 # This file is the main build configuration file for fish. It is used
 # to determine your systems capabilities, and tries to adapt fish to
@@ -9,6 +8,8 @@
 # configure the build process.
 #
 
+m4_pattern_allow(m4_esyscmd_s)
+
 m4_syscmd([build_tools/git_version_gen.sh 2>/dev/null])
 
 AC_INIT(fish,