--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
# Ok, this is linux. Check the kernel version
AC_MSG_CHECKING([for the kernel version])
- kernel=`uname -r`
+ kernel=${UNAME_R:-`uname -r`}
case "${kernel}" in
2.6.*|3.*)