diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 5c424e440..d6bb438ee 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -688,6 +688,9 @@ dnl ================================================================
 dnl Checks for library functions.
 dnl ================================================================
 
+dnl The 'ffs' function is part of C99 so it isn't always
+dnl available. Cogl has a fallback if needed.
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([ffs])
 
 dnl ================================================================
 dnl What needs to be substituted in other files