diff --git a/smmapdfw/configure.ac b/smmapdfw/configure.ac
index 89b5243..0be7a27 100644
--- a/smmapdfw/configure.ac
+++ b/smmapdfw/configure.ac
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB([socket], [connect])
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([arpa/inet.h fcntl.h netinet/in.h stdlib.h string.h strings.h sys/socket.h syslog.h unistd.h dlfcn.h])
 
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([db.h],
+                 [],
+                 [AC_MSG_ERROR([*** we can't go without Berkeley DB])])
 
 # Checks for typedefs, structures, and compiler characteristics.
 AC_C_CONST