diff --git a/configure b/configure
index a1eef74c..47704220 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ has_or_abort prog=make                                  \
              ver='^GNU Make (3.[89][[:digit:]]|[4-9])'  \
              err="GNU 'make' 3.80 or above was not found"
 has_or_abort prog=gcc
-has_or_abort prog=awk
+has_or_abort prog="awk gawk" ver='^GNU Awk' err="GNU 'awk' was not found"
 has_or_abort prog=bison
 has_or_abort prog=flex
 has_or_abort prog=makeinfo