diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index d39846d..f8e16fc 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ dnl Make automake keep quiet about wildcards & other GNUmake-isms
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wno-portability])
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 
+# Use the silent-rules feature when possible.
+m4_ifndef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [m4_define([AM_SILENT_RULES],[])])
+AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])
+
 AC_PROG_CC
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 AC_PROG_LIBTOOL