--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ fi
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([the version of $PATCH])
 if $PATCH --version 2> /dev/null | grep GNU >/dev/null; then
   set -- `$PATCH --version 2> /dev/null`
-  patch_version=$2
+  test $2 == "patch" && patch_version=$3 || patch_version=$2
   AC_MSG_RESULT($patch_version)
   saved_IFS=$IFS; IFS='.'
   set -- $patch_version
