diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4c91292907c6ad4..2bdffed66e63780 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -6684,7 +6684,7 @@ int main(void)
   return 1;
 }
 ]])],
-[],
+[ac_cv_strftime_c99_support=yes],
 [AC_MSG_ERROR([Python requires C99-compatible strftime specifiers])],
 []))])