diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 3ab59ad9a9e..66fa891f4a2 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -2290,7 +2290,7 @@ sed -e 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/ /g' -e 's/^/ /' -e 's/  *$//' \
 changequote([, ])dnl
 
 echo creating src/epaths.h
-make epaths-force
+${MAKE-make} epaths-force
 
 # As of 2000-11-19, newest development versions of GNU cpp preprocess
 # `..' to `. .'  unless invoked with -traditional