diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f8855ceb4c..09ea96fc10 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ lyx.1
 stamp-h1
 *.old
 *.bak
-config/compile
 *.patch
 build/
 CMakeLists.txt.user
diff --git a/config/.gitignore b/config/.gitignore
index 1fe551b251..d19f74da55 100644
--- a/config/.gitignore
+++ b/config/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+ar-lib
+compile
 config.guess
 config.sub
 depcomp
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c9b36ed9f6..f97622aafb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ done
 LYX_PATH_PYTHON23([2.7.0], [3.3.0])
 # do the usual python setup stuff
 AM_PATH_PYTHON
+
+# Tools for creating libraries (note that we do not use libtool)
+m4_ifdef([AM_PROG_AR], [AM_PROG_AR]) dnl AM_PROG_AR requires automake 1.12
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
 
 ### Check for a C++ compiler