diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index bb23b642..e8b908d6 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ cat docs/help/Makefile.am.gen|sed "s/@HELPFILES@/$files/g"|sed 's/?/\\?/g'|tr '!
 echo "Documentation: html -> txt..."
 lynx -dump -nolist docs/faq.html|perl -pe 's/^ *//; if ($_ eq "\n" && $state eq "Q") { $_ = ""; } elsif (/^([QA]):/) { $state = $1 } elsif ($_ ne "\n") { $_ = "   $_"; };' > docs/faq.txt
 
-if test -z "$*"; then
+if test x$NOCONFIGURE = x && test -z "$*"; then
   echo "**Warning**: I am going to run \`configure' with no arguments."
   echo "If you wish to pass any to it, please specify them on the"
   echo \`$0\'" command line."