diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 3f73591..8c82d35 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2019-01-01  Ben Elliston  <bje@gnu.org>
+
+	* configure.ac: Abort if AWK is not installed.
+	* configure: Regenerate.
+
 2019-01-01  Ben Elliston  <bje@gnu.org>
 
 	* config.guess: Update to latest version.
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3ec34c6..5dc31df 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -3987,6 +3987,10 @@ fi
 
 
 
+if test -z "$AWK"; then
+  as_fn_error $? "AWK not installed" "$LINENO" 5
+fi
+
 # Extract the first word of "expect", so it can be a program name with args.
 set dummy expect; ac_word=$2
 { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for $ac_word" >&5
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 336b585..9ce1b08 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ AC_PROG_CXX
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_EXEEXT
 
+if test -z "$AWK"; then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([AWK not installed])
+fi
+
 dnl Search for expect.
 AC_PATH_PROG([EXPECT], [expect])
 if test -z $ac_cv_path_EXPECT ; then