--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@
 dnl For vcdimager and vcdxbuild to be able to set creation time of VCD
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(getdate strptime, , )
 
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG
+
 if test "x$enable_cli_fe" = "xyes" -o "x$enable_xml_fe" = "xyes"; then
   PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBPOPT, popt, [], [enable_cli_fe=no; enable_xml_fe=no])
 fi