diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 2b1e42a..3703aee 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ prefix=/usr/local
 OUR_CPPFLAGS=
 
 # Get a temporary filename
+fail() { printf "%s\n" "$1" >2 ; exit 1 ; }
 i=0
 set -C
 while : ; do i=$(($i+1))