diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 7a046a9f..ec03aaa1 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
-AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = gnu
-
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	autogen.sh \
 	THANKS
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4fd91d09..56297e17 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ AC_INIT([libsodium],[0.4.2],
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/libsodium/sodium/version.c])
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.11 dist-bzip2 tar-ustar])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([gnu 1.11 dist-bzip2 tar-ustar subdir-objects])
 m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])
 AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
 AM_DEP_TRACK