diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.17.2)
 
 
 PKGCONFIG_OHNOWRAP([DISTLIBS], [libconfuse >= 2.5 libcurl libxml-2.0 liblist >= 2.2.1])
+AX_LIB_MYSQL
+AS_IF( [test "x${MYSQL_VERSION}" = "x"],
+	[ AC_MSG_ERROR([I need mysql]) ] )
 
 PKGCONFIG_OHNOWRAP([CHECK], [check >= 0.9.3])