diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index dff280d8..490ae870 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -99,10 +99,6 @@ aclocal $aclocalinclude
 if grep "^AM_CONFIG_HEADER" configure.in >/dev/null; then
   echo "Running autoheader..."
   autoheader
-
-  # we don't want VERSION in our config.h
-  grep -v '^#undef VERSION' config.h.in > config.h.in.temp
-  mv -f config.h.in.temp config.h.in
 fi
 echo "Running autoconf ..."
 autoconf
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index afadddc7..23596412 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 AC_INIT(src)
 
+# we don't want VERSION in our config.h
+if test -n "`grep '^#undef VERSION' config.h.in`"; then
+  grep -v '^#undef VERSION' config.h.in > config.h.in.temp
+  mv -f config.h.in.temp config.h.in
+fi
+
 AM_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h)
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(irssi, 0.7.98.CVS)