diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ dnl made:
 AC_DEFINE_DIR([LOCALSTATEDIR], [localstatedir], [Default directory for storing state information])
 AC_DEFINE_DIR([RUNSTATEDIR], [localstatedir/run], [Default directory for registering runtime information like pid-files])
 
+# we need the clock_gettime() function
+LIBS="$LIBS -lrt"
+
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
 	libdistren.pc
 	etc/distrendaemon.conf