diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 781b62515ba13363169c3cb9a2a445f870d6b3fd..f77ad1a019b7247c926b0380790f38eff1f0c2e3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ AC_PROG_CC
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 AC_PROG_CPP
 AC_PROG_CXX
-"${CXX}" --version >/dev/null 2>&1 || CXX=""
+eval "${CXX} --version" >/dev/null 2>&1 || CXX=""
 if test "${CXX}" != ""; then
   AC_PROG_CXXCPP
 fi