diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9d55cd4..00cc7be 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 
 dnl check for gtkmm & cairo
 PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG([0.20])
+if test -z "$PKG_CONFIG"; then
+   AC_MSG_ERROR([You may need to update your pkg-config installation])
+fi
+
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([CAIRO], 
 		[cairo >= $CAIRO_VERSION],
 		:, AC_MSG_ERROR([$CAIRO_PKG_ERRORS]))