diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index f8f681fc53..80c5ef5e71 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ if test ! -d common;
 then 
   echo "+ getting common/ from cvs"
   cvs co common 
+else
+  echo "+ updating common/ from cvs"
+  cd common; cvs -update -dP; cd ..
 fi
 
 # source helper functions