diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 629a83c..ab804da 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([.])
 
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.9 tar-ustar])
 
 AC_ARG_VAR([PY_PREFIX], [Prefix for installing Python modules.
                          (Normal --prefix is ignored for Python because