diff --git a/client/common.h b/client/common.h
index e9a7ea8a..ca3609f8 100644
--- a/client/common.h
+++ b/client/common.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #endif
 
-#define __STDC_FORMAT_MACROS
 #ifndef _WIN32
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #endif
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f5b014f8..4b24c7df 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/time.h])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([execinfo.h])
 AC_FUNC_ALLOCA
 
+AC_DEFINE([__STDC_FORMAT_MACROS],[],[Force definition of format macros for C++])
+
 SPICE_LT_VERSION=m4_format("%d:%d:%d", 1, 0, 2)
 AC_SUBST(SPICE_LT_VERSION)