diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index bde7d8853..6feab9284 100755
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2770,6 +2770,12 @@ if test X"$OPT_LIBMETALINK" != Xno; then
       AC_MSG_NOTICE([libmetalink library defective or too old])
       want_metalink="no"
     ])
+    if test "x$OPENSSL_ENABLED" != "x1" -a "x$USE_WINDOWS_SSPI" != "x1" \
+        -a "x$GNUTLS_ENABLED" != "x1" -a "x$MBEDTLS_ENABLED" != "x1" \
+        -a "x$NSS_ENABLED" != "x1" -a "x$SECURETRANSPORT_ENABLED" != "x1"; then
+      AC_MSG_WARN([metalink support requires a compatible SSL/TLS backend])
+      want_metalink="no"
+    fi
     CPPFLAGS="$clean_CPPFLAGS"
     LDFLAGS="$clean_LDFLAGS"
     LIBS="$clean_LIBS"