diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0ccb0ba..586d7ef 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@
 fi
 PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG([0.20])
 
-AC_CHECK_LIB(csv, csv_init, LIBS="$LIBS -lcsv", [AC_MSG_ERROR([*** libcsv library not found!])])
+AC_CHECK_LIB(csv, csv_init, CSV_LIBS="-lcsv", [AC_MSG_ERROR([*** libcsv library not found!])])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([csv.h])
+AC_SUBST(CSV_LIBS)
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(OSMOCORE, libosmocore >= 1.3.0)
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(OSMOGSM, libosmogsm >= 0.11.0)