diff --git a/configure1.in b/configure1.in
index a75861e593a..4ea389dd675 100755
--- a/configure1.in
+++ b/configure1.in
@@ -998,11 +998,10 @@ dnl   so (as far as I can tell) there's no way to compute the value
 dnl   the CPP macro should receive.  We cripple that quoting for a
 dnl   bit, invoke AC_DEFINE, and then uncripple it.
 
-define([hold_ac_define_sedquote], defn([AC_DEFINE_SEDQUOTE]))
-define([AC_DEFINE_SEDQUOTE],[$1])
+pushdef([AC_DEFINE_SEDQUOTE],[$1])
 AC_DEFINE(config_machfile,  "\"${machfile}\"")
 AC_DEFINE(config_opsysfile, "\"${opsysfile}\"")
-define([AC_DEFINE_SEDQUOTE],hold_ac_define_sedquote)
+popdef([AC_DEFINE_SEDQUOTE])
 
 AC_DEFINE(LD_SWITCH_X_SITE, ${LD_SWITCH_X_SITE})
 AC_DEFINE(C_SWITCH_X_SITE,  ${C_SWITCH_X_SITE})