title: possibly undefined macro: AC_MSG_ERROR
body: <p>I have the following in configure.ac:</p>
  
  <pre><code>AC_CHECK_PROGS(MAKE,$MAKE make gmake,error)
  if test "x$MAKE" = "xerror" ;then
    AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot find a make command])
  fi
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This has been in our project for a long time, but in some set ups, I get this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>configure.ac:45: error: possibly undefined macro: AC_MSG_ERROR
    If this token and others are legitimate, please use m4_pattern_allow.
    See the Autoconf documentation.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The lines that were recently added above this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
  LT_INIT
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Can anyone explain what causes this error and how to track down the problem? </p>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT:</strong> Adding details about the differences.</p>
  
  <p>Box that works: </p>
  
  <pre><code>uname -a Linux host1 2.6.38-13-generic #53-Ubuntu SMP Mon Nov 28 19:33:45 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
  
  automake: 1.11.1
  autoconf: 2.67
  m4: 1.4.14
  libtoolize: 2.2.6b
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Box that doesn't work:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Linux host2 2.6.32-35-generic-pae #78-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 11 17:01:12 UTC 2011 i686 GNU/Linux
  
  automake: 1.11.1
  autoconf: 2.65
  m4: 1.4.13
  libtoolize: 2.2.6b
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>NEW EDIT:</strong> only 32 bit machines experience this difficulty.</p>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATED</strong> I am able to reproduce the problem on a CentOS machine with <code>autoconf 2.67</code>, <code>automake 1.11.1</code>, <code>libtool 2.2.6b</code>, and <code>m4 1.4.14</code>. Is this just a bug with 32-bit machines?</p>