--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ AC_PROG_CC
 AC_AIX
 AC_ISC_POSIX
 AC_MINIX
-AM_PATH_PYTHON
+AM_PATH_PYTHON(,,[:])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_PYTHON, test -n "$PYTHON")
 
 [if test -n "$GCC"; then]