diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4d443c1..42c3568 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -31,13 +31,8 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([include/libhsts.h])
 #
 # Gettext
 #
-m4_ifdef([AM_GNU_GETTEXT], [
-  AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external],[need-ngettext])
-])
-m4_ifdef([AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION], [
-#do not indent here
-AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.18.2])
-])
+AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external],[need-ngettext])
+AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.19.8])
 
 #
 # check for doxygen and pandoc