diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9a439346..17c85ad6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(doxygen,
 	AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-doxygen], [do not build API docs via Doxygen]),
 	[wantdoxygen=$enableval], [wantdoxygen=yes])
 
+# Help line for asciidoc
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(asciidoc,
+	AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-asciidoc], [build your own manpages with Asciidoc]),
+	[wantasciidoc=$enableval], [wantasciidoc=no])
+
 # Help line for debug
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
 	AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-debug], [enable debugging support]),
@@ -177,7 +182,7 @@ AC_SUBST(CARCHFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(ARCHSWITCH)
 AC_SUBST(CHOST)
 
-# Check for doxygen support
+# Check for doxygen support and status
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for doxygen])
 if test "x$wantdoxygen" = "xyes" ; then
 	AC_CHECK_PROGS([DOXYGEN], [doxygen])
@@ -192,7 +197,24 @@ else
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([no, disabled by configure])
 	usedoxygen=no
 fi
-AM_CONDITIONAL(HAS_DOXYGEN, test "x$usedoxygen" = "xyes")
+AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_DOXYGEN, test "x$usedoxygen" = "xyes")
+
+# Check for asciidoc support and status
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([for asciidoc])
+if test "x$wantasciidoc" = "xyes" ; then
+	AC_CHECK_PROGS([ASCIIDOC], [asciidoc])
+	if test $ASCIIDOC ; then
+		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+		useasciidoc=yes
+	else
+		AC_MSG_RESULT([no, asciidoc missing])
+		useasciidoc=no
+	fi
+else
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([no, disabled by configure])
+	useasciidoc=no
+fi
+AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_ASCIIDOC, test "x$useasciidoc" = "xyes")
 
 # Enable or disable debug code
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(for debug mode request)
@@ -276,6 +298,7 @@ $PACKAGE_STRING:
 
   Compilation options:
     Doxygen support        : ${usedoxygen}
+    Asciidoc support       : ${useasciidoc}
     debug support          : ${debug}
     include abs            : ${includeabs}
 "
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index f790f585..ad251287 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ ASCIIDOC_MANS = \
 	pacman.conf.5 \
 	libalpm.3
 
-man_MANS = $(ASCIIDOC_MANS)
-
-if HAS_DOXYGEN
-man_MANS += $(wildcard man3/*.3)
+if USE_DOXYGEN
+DOXYGEN_MANS = $(wildcard man3/*.3)
 endif
 
+man_MANS = $(ASCIIDOC_MANS) $(DOXYGEN_MANS)
+
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	pacman.8.txt \
 	makepkg.8.txt \
@@ -23,24 +23,26 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 	pacman.conf.5.txt \
 	libalpm.3.txt \
 	footer.txt \
-	Doxyfile
+	Doxyfile \
+	$(ASCIIDOC_MANS)
 
 # Files that should be removed, but which Automake does not know.
-MOSTLYCLEANFILES = $(man_MANS) man3/*.3 *.xml
+MOSTLYCLEANFILES = $(DOXYGEN_MANS) *.xml
 
-ASCIIDOC_OPTS = \
-	-f asciidoc.conf \
-	-a pacman_version="$(PACKAGE_VERSION)" \
-	-a pacman_date="`date +%Y-%m-%d`" \
-	-a sysconfdir=$(sysconfdir)
-
-if HAS_DOXYGEN
+if USE_DOXYGEN
 all: doxygen.in
 
 doxygen.in:
 	doxygen $(srcdir)/Doxyfile
 endif
 
+if USE_ASCIIDOC
+ASCIIDOC_OPTS = \
+	-f asciidoc.conf \
+	-a pacman_version="$(PACKAGE_VERSION)" \
+	-a pacman_date="`date +%Y-%m-%d`" \
+	-a sysconfdir=$(sysconfdir)
+
 $(ASCIIDOC_MANS):
 	a2x -d manpage -f manpage --asciidoc-opts="$(ASCIIDOC_OPTS)" $@.txt
 
@@ -53,5 +55,6 @@ PKGBUILD.5: PKGBUILD.5.txt PKGBUILD-example.txt
 makepkg.conf.5: makepkg.conf.5.txt
 pacman.conf.5: pacman.conf.5.txt
 libalpm.3: libalpm.3.txt
+endif
 
 # vim:set ts=2 sw=2 noet: