diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 176d669..2322051 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 AC_INIT(libasn1parser/asn1p_y.y)
 AC_CANONICAL_SYSTEM
 AC_PREREQ(2.53)
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(asn1c, 0.8.16)
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(asn1c, 0.8.17)
 
 AC_SUBST(PATH)
 
@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@
 dnl Checks for programs.
 AC_PROG_CC
 AC_PROG_CPP
+AC_PROG_CXX
+AC_PROG_CXXCPP
+AM_CONDITIONAL(CPLUSPLUS_FOUND, test -n "$ac_ct_CXX")
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_PROG_YACC
 AM_PROG_LEX
-AC_PATH_PROG(AR, ar, ar, $PATH:/usr/ucb:/usr/ccs/bin)
 
 dnl *** Building mingw32 with cygwin compiler ***
 case "$build" in