diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index dce8512a..5c3e035e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -68,9 +68,14 @@ else
 fi
 AM_CONDITIONAL(BUILDING_FROM_GIT, test x$from_git = xyes)
 
-dnl Check for gettext when building from git.
+dnl Checks for pkg-config and gettext when building from git.
 
 if test x$from_git = xyes; then
+	if test ! -f $(aclocal --print-ac-dir)/pkg.m4; then
+		AC_MSG_ERROR([
+*** The pkg.m4 macros are missing. ***
+*** The pkg-config package needs to be installed when building from git. ***])
+	fi
 	if test "$ac_cv_path_MSGFMT" = ":"; then
 		AC_MSG_ERROR([
 *** The msgfmt program is missing. ***