diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index bd893f37..e14c0ca8 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ AC_INIT(event.c)
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(libevent,2.1.0-alpha-dev)
+dnl AM_SILENT_RULES req. automake 1.11.  [no] defaults V=1
+m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([no])])
 AM_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h  evconfig-private.h:evconfig-private.h.in)
 AC_DEFINE(NUMERIC_VERSION, 0x02010001, [Numeric representation of the version])