diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8d50f9c3..f604bf11 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ fi
 if test "x$with_net" = xyes; then
   AC_CHECK_HEADER([event2/event.h],, AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent headers missing),)
   AC_CHECK_LIB([event],[main],EVENT_LIBS=-levent,AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent missing))
-  AC_CHECK_LIB([event_core],[main],EVENT_CORE_LIBS=-levent_core,AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent_core missing))
+  AC_CHECK_LIB([event_core],[main],EVENT_CORE_LIBS=-levent_core,AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent_core missing),[-levent_core])
   AC_CHECK_LIB([event_extra],[main],EVENT_EXTRA_LIBS=-levent_extra,AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent_extra missing))
   if test "$host" = "mingw"; then
     AC_CHECK_LIB([event_pthreads],[main],EVENT_PTHREADS_LIBS=-levent_pthreads,AC_MSG_ERROR(libevent_pthreads missing))