diff --git a/common/include/lib.mak.in b/common/include/lib.mak.in
index 3afbb14..b8df9d9 100644
--- a/common/include/lib.mak.in
+++ b/common/include/lib.mak.in
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ static: $(STATIC_LIB)
 shared: $(SHARED_LIB)
 
 $(STATIC_LIB): $(OBJECTS)
-	ar rcs $(STATIC_LIB) $(OBJECTS)
+	$(AR) rcs $(STATIC_LIB) $(OBJECTS)
 
 $(SHARED_LIB): $(OBJECTS)
 	$(CC) -shared -Wl,-soname,$(SO_NAME) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(SHARED_LIB) \
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 82ca3e1..0a78283 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ if test "$YACC" != "bison -y"; then
 	AC_MSG_ERROR([bison not found])
 fi
 
+AC_CHECK_TOOL([AR], [ar], [:])
+
 AC_ARG_WITH(
 	[python],
 	[AS_HELP_STRING([--without-python],[compile without python support])],