diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index f5b403c2..f47cec46 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,13 @@
 if test "$1" = "update"
 then
   # Update generated configuration files
-  autoreconf --force --install --verbose --warnings=all
+  if which autoreconf >/dev/null
+  then
+    autoreconf --force --install --verbose --warnings=all
+  else
+    echo "Update failed, please install autoconf first"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 else
   # Set up an m4 environment
   aclocal
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 29ece85e..91aaad2f 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,16 @@ test "$CPU_COUNT" -eq 0 && CPU_COUNT=1
 
 if [ -n "$1" ]
 then
-  test ! -f ./configure &&  autoreconf --install --force
+  if [ ! -f ./configure ]
+  then
+    if which autoreconf >/dev/null
+    then
+      autoreconf --install --force
+    else
+      echo "Build failed, please install autoconf first"
+      exit -1
+    fi
+  fi
 fi
 
 # Build commands