diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 18a01fab..ac87ea40 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ sed/
 bison/
 flex/
 makeinfo/
-automake/\(GNU automake\) [[:digit:]]+\.[[:digit:]]{2,}
+automake/\(GNU automake\) [[:digit:]]+\.[[:digit:]]{2,}|automake/\(GNU automake\) [2-9][[:digit:]]*\.
 libtool/
 curl/|wget/
 patch/
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ has_or_abort() {
                   tool_version=$(${tool} --version 2>&1)
                   str=$(echo "${tool_version}" |grep -E "${regexp}" |head -n 1)
                   if [ -z "${str}" ]; then
-                      echo "wrong version string: expecting regexp '${regexp}'"
+                      echo "${where}: wrong version string: expecting regexp '${regexp}'"
                       where=""
                       continue
                   fi