diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1bfbdac549..e22b4fb5ae 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1084,8 +1084,15 @@ AG_GST_CHECK_FEATURE(APEXSINK, [AirPort Express Wireless sink], apexsink, [
 dnl *** BZ2 ***
 translit(dnm, m, l) AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_BZ2, true)
 AG_GST_CHECK_FEATURE(BZ2, [bz2 library], bz2, [
-  AG_GST_CHECK_LIBHEADER(BZ2, bz2, BZ2_bzCompress, ,bzlib.h, BZ2_LIBS="-lbz2")
-  AC_SUBST(BZ2_LIBS)
+  save_LIBS=$LIBS
+  LIBS="$LIBS -lbz2"
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([for BZ2_bzlibVersion in -lbz2])
+  AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <bzlib.h>]], [[const char *version = BZ2_bzlibVersion ();]])],[HAVE_BZ2=yes],[HAVE_BZ2=no])
+  AC_MSG_RESULT($HAVE_BZ2)
+  LIBS=$save_LIBS
+  BZ2_LIBS="-lbz2"
+  AC_SUBST(BZ2_LIBS):w
+
 ])
 
 #dnl *** cairo ***