diff --git a/acconfig.h b/acconfig.h
index a964fa97a6..1145164b8a 100644
--- a/acconfig.h
+++ b/acconfig.h
@@ -25,11 +25,9 @@
 
 #undef HAVE_RDTSC
 
-#undef HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF
 #undef HAVE_LIBGHTTP
 #undef HAVE_LIBMMX
 #undef HAVE_LIBXV
-#undef HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE
 #undef HAVE_OSS
 #undef HAVE_XAUDIO
 #undef HAVE_CSSAUTH
diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 4b1371d5d2..a20e8ae337 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -359,6 +359,32 @@ dnl *** Define the conditional as appropriate
 AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_[$1], test x$USE_[$1] = xyes)
 ])
 
+dnl Use a -config program which accepts --cflags and --libs parameters
+dnl to set *_CFLAGS and *_LIBS and check existence of a feature.
+dnl Richard Boulton <richard-alsa@tartarus.org>
+dnl Last modification: 26/06/2001
+dnl GST_CHECK_CONFIGPROG(FEATURE-NAME, CONFIG-PROG-FILENAME)
+dnl
+dnl This check was written for GStreamer: it should be renamed and checked
+dnl for portability if you decide to use it elsewhere.
+dnl
+AC_DEFUN(GST_CHECK_CONFIGPROG,
+[
+  AC_PATH_PROG([$1]_CONFIG, [$2], no)
+  if test x$[$1]_CONFIG = xno; then
+    [$1]_LIBS=
+    [$1]_CFLAGS=
+    HAVE_[$1]=no
+  else
+    [$1]_LIBS=`[$2] --libs`
+    [$1]_CFLAGS=`[$2] --cflags`
+    HAVE_[$1]=yes
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST([$1]_LIBS)
+  AC_SUBST([$1]_CFLAGS)
+])
+
+
 dnl Perform a check for existence of ARTSC
 dnl Richard Boulton <richard-alsa@tartarus.org>
 dnl Last modification: 26/06/2001
diff --git a/configure.base b/configure.base
index d142e503b4..f1ddbe66d6 100644
--- a/configure.base
+++ b/configure.base
@@ -330,33 +330,15 @@ GST_CHECK_FEATURE(ALSA, [alsa plugins], gstalsa, [
 ])
 
 dnl Check for libaudiofile
-AC_PATH_PROG(AUDIOFILE_CONFIG, audiofile-config, no)
-if test x$AUDIOFILE_CONFIG = xno; then
-  AC_MSG_WARN(Couldn't find audiofile-config: can't build afsink)
-  AUDIOFILE_LIBS=
-  HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE=no
-else
-  AUDIOFILE_LIBS=`audiofile-config --libs`
-  HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE=yes
-fi
-AC_SUBST(AUDIOFILE_LIBS)
-
+GST_CHECK_FEATURE(LIBAUDIOFILE, [use gdk pixbuf], afsink afsrc, [
+  GST_CHECK_CONFIGPROG(LIBAUDIOFILE, audiofile-config)
+])
 
 dnl Check for libgdk-pixbuf
-AC_PATH_PROG(GDK_PIXBUF_CONFIG, gdk-pixbuf-config, no)
-if test x$GDK_PIXBUF_CONFIG = xno; then
-  AC_MSG_WARN(Couldn't find gdk-pixbuf-config)
-  GDK_PIXBUF_LIBS=
-  GDK_PIXBUF_CFLAGS=
-  HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF=no
-else
-  GDK_PIXBUF_LIBS=`gdk-pixbuf-config --libs`
-  GDK_PIXBUF_CFLAGS=`gdk-pixbuf-config --cflags`
-  HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF=yes
-fi
-AC_SUBST(GDK_PIXBUF_LIBS)
-AC_SUBST(GDK_PIXBUF_CFLAGS)
-
+dnl FIXME: not sure that this is still used anywhere.
+GST_CHECK_FEATURE(GDK_PIXBUF, [use gdk pixbuf], , [
+  GST_CHECK_CONFIGPROG(GDK_PIXBUF, gdk-pixbuf-config)
+])
 
 if test x$USE_GLIB2 = xyes; then
   dnl we don't support gnome/gtk with glib2.0 yet
@@ -702,15 +684,6 @@ dnl ######################################################################
 dnl # Check command line parameters, and set shell variables accordingly #
 dnl ######################################################################
 
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(gdk-pixbuf,
-[  --enable-gdk-pixbuf          use gdk pixbuf, if available],
-[case "${enableval}" in
-  yes) USE_GDK_PIXBUF=$HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF ;;
-  no)  USE_GDK_PIXBUF=no ;;
-  *) AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-gdk-pixbuf) ;;
-esac], 
-[USE_GDK_PIXBUF=$HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF]) dnl Default value
-
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(libmmx,
 [  --enable-libmmx              use libmmx, if available],
 [case "${enableval}" in
@@ -892,10 +865,6 @@ dnl ################################################
 
 dnl These should be "USE_*" instead of "HAVE_*", but some packages expect
 dnl HAVE_ and it is likely to be easier to stick with the old name
-if test "x$USE_GDK_PIXBUF" = xyes; then
-  AC_DEFINE(HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF, 1, [Define if GDK pixbuf library is available])
-fi
-
 if test "x$USE_LIBGHTTP" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBGHTTP, 1, [Define if ghttp library is available])
 fi
@@ -971,10 +940,6 @@ if test "x$HAVE_MPEG2DEC" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_MPEG2DEC)
 fi
 
-if test "x$HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE" = xyes; then
-  AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE)
-fi
-
 if test "x$HAVE_LIBGSM" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBGSM)
 fi
@@ -990,8 +955,6 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_CPU_PPC,        test "x$HAVE_CPU_PPC" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_CPU_ALPHA,      test "x$HAVE_CPU_ALPHA" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_CPU_ARM,        test "x$HAVE_CPU_ARM" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_CPU_SPARC,      test "x$HAVE_CPU_SPARC" = "xyes")
-AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF,     test "x$USE_GDK_PIXBUF" = "xyes")
-AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE,   test "x$HAVE_LIBAUDIOFILE" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_LIBMMX,         test "x$USE_LIBMMX" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_ATOMIC_H,       test "x$USE_ATOMIC_H" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_OSS,            test "x$HAVE_OSS" = "xyes")