Do not depend on AM_SILENT_RULES if it is not available.
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 785f033..3c8fdbb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
 AC_SYS_LARGEFILE
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
+m4_ifndef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [m4_define([AM_SILENT_RULES],[])])
 AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])
 LT_INIT([disable-static pic-only])
 AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT([/usr])