diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 6d5a844a217e60c710816fa0ab97a4d524fbb45b..44d199c601299df09d6f5f1630aafe7923546d5c 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ dnl ==============================
 dnl Check for libraries
 dnl ==============================
 
+# we link to libpthread just in case one of our plugins does
+# in which case this is required to avoid problems on dlclose()
+AC_CHECK_LIB(pthread, pthread_kill)
+
 dnl ==============================
 dnl Checks for header files
 dnl ==============================