diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 055e0610a3e1..694b32e4f0ab 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ else
 fi
 AC_SUBST(CROSS_COMPILING)
 
+AC_PROG_EGREP
+
 if test "$build_os" = "cygwin"; then
     EXEEXT_FOR_BUILD=.exe
     SRC_ROOT=`pwd`
@@ -1976,7 +1978,6 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(system-libxml-for-build,
 dnl ===================================================================
 dnl check for required programs (grep, awk, sed, bash)
 dnl ===================================================================
-AC_PROG_EGREP
 
 pathmunge ()
 {