diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e9f206c03..3f2fcdc79 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -986,6 +986,7 @@ case "$LIBIDN" in
 
        if test "x$idn" != "xyes"; then
           dnl check with default paths
+          idn="yes"
           AC_CHECK_LIB(idn, idna_to_ascii_lz, ,
                        idn="")
        fi