diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7f5cc3a..99342ce 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ AC_PREREQ([2.68])
 AC_INIT([AutoFDO], [m4_esyscmd_s([git describe --abbrev=0 --tags])], [autofdo@googlegroups.com])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(config.h glog/src/config.h)
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects foreign])
 
 # Checks for the flag --with-protoc.
 AC_ARG_WITH([protoc],