--- ./configure.in.orig
+++ ./configure.in
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(sys/time.h sys/types.h unistd.h string.h netinet/in.h stdio.h)
+AC_SEARCH_LIBS([argp_usage], [argp], [],
+	[AC_MSG_ERROR([argp not found. Consider installing argp-standalone])])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBRAW1394, libraw1394 >= 1.0.0)
 
 #set the libtool shared library version numbers
