diff --git a/configure.py b/configure.py
index 94ddb23..5eb80c0 100644
--- a/configure.py
+++ b/configure.py
@@ -147,14 +147,16 @@
   write_to_bazelrc('build --action_env %s="%s"' % (var_name, str(var)))
 
 
-def run_shell(cmd, allow_non_zero=False):
+def run_shell(cmd, allow_non_zero=False, stderr=None):
+  if stderr is None:
+    stderr = sys.stdout
   if allow_non_zero:
     try:
-      output = subprocess.check_output(cmd)
+      output = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=stderr)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
       output = e.output
   else:
-    output = subprocess.check_output(cmd)
+    output = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=stderr)
   return output.decode('UTF-8').strip()