diff --git a/config/qt4.m4 b/config/qt4.m4
index c5b95eda24..18fae10e05 100644
--- a/config/qt4.m4
+++ b/config/qt4.m4
@@ -182,6 +182,16 @@ AC_DEFUN([QT4_DO_PKG_CONFIG],
 
 AC_DEFUN([QT4_DO_MANUAL_CONFIG],
 [
+	dnl Check for X libraries
+	AC_PATH_X
+	AC_PATH_XTRA
+	case $have_x in
+	    yes) LIBS="$X_PRE_LIBS $LIBS $X_LIBS -lX11 $X_EXTRA_LIBS"
+	         CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $X_CFLAGS";;
+	     no) LYX_ERROR([Cannot find X window libraries and/or headers.]);;
+	disable) ;;
+	esac
+
 	dnl flags for compilation
 	QT4_INCLUDES=
 	QT4_LDFLAGS=
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index d062534a5c..fb7cca7573 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -164,18 +164,6 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS(zlib.h,
  [LYX_LIB_ERROR(zlib.h,zlib)])
 
 
-### Check for X libraries
-AC_PATH_XTRA
-case $have_x in
-  yes) LIBS="$X_PRE_LIBS $LIBS $X_LIBS -lX11 $X_EXTRA_LIBS"
-       CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $X_CFLAGS";;
-  no) LYX_ERROR(dnl
-[Cannot find X window libraries and/or headers. Check your installation.
-  If you use a Linux system, check that you have installed
-  the development tools.]);;
-  disable) ;;
-esac
-
 ### check which frontend we want to use
 
 dnl The code below is not in a macro, because this would cause big