diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS([strdup])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([fcntl.h])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([malloc.h])
 
+# TODO: write up --with-list option
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([list.h queue.h stack.h], [], [AC_MSG_ERROR([I need liblist to be installed])])
+AC_CHECK_LIB([list], [list_init], [
+   AC_SUBST([LIST_LIBS],[-llist])], [
+   AC_MSG_ERROR([I need liblist to be installed]) ])
+
 AC_FUNC_FORK
 AC_FUNC_MALLOC