diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6d7107c..7ceb122 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ ishaiku() {
 }
 
 check_compile 'whether C compiler works' '' 'int main() {return 0;}' || fail 'error: install a C compiler and library'
+check_compile 'whether libc headers are complete' '' '#include <netdb.h>\nint main() {return 0;}' || fail 'error: necessary libc headers are not installed'
 check_compile 'whether C compiler understands -Wno-unknown-pragmas' '-Wno-unknown-pragmas' 'int main() {return 0;}'
 
 if ! check_compile 'whether getnameinfo() servlen argument is POSIX compliant (socklen_t)' "-DGN_NODELEN_T=socklen_t -DGN_SERVLEN_T=socklen_t -DGN_FLAGS_T=int" \