--- configure.ac
+++ configure.ac
@@ -136,9 +136,9 @@
 if test x"$testpcre" = x"yes"; then
 	if pcre-config --cflags >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS `pcre-config --cflags`"
-		LIBS="$LIBS `pcre-config --libs`"
+		LIBS="$LIBS -Wl,-Bstatic `pcre-config --libs` -Wl,-Bdynamic"
 	fi
-	AC_CHECK_LIB(pcre, pcre_exec)
+	AC_SEARCH_LIBS(pcre_exec, pcre, [AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBPCRE, 1, [Define to 1 if you have the `pcre' library (-lpcre).])])
 fi
 
 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile lib/Makefile lib/posix/Makefile src/Makefile tests/Makefile po/Makefile.in intl/Makefile doc/Makefile m4/Makefile vms/Makefile bootstrap/Makefile, [sed -e "/POTFILES =/r po/POTFILES" po/Makefile.in > po/Makefile; echo timestamp > stamp-h])