diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index befcff6da..a04569923 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -50,10 +50,8 @@ AC_SUBST(CAIRO_VERSION_MICRO)
 
 dnl ===========================================================================
 
-AC_PATH_PROG(FIND, find,
-	     AC_MSG_ERROR([Cairo requires a POSIX compatible 'find'.]))
-AC_PATH_PROG(XARGS, xargs,
-	     AC_MSG_ERROR([Cairo requires 'xargs'.]))
+AC_PATH_PROG(FIND, find)
+AC_PATH_PROG(XARGS, xargs)
 
 dnl ===========================================================================
 
diff --git a/test/Makefile.am b/test/Makefile.am
index a6adec799..4effd77e2 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/Makefile.am
@@ -523,14 +523,17 @@ CLEANFILES =					\
 	$(EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES)			\
 	$(EXTRA_PROGRAMS)
 
-# most systems cannot handle all of our clean files together
+# This used to be a simple 'echo ${RM} *.ps *.pdf *.svg *.etc', but
+# most systems cannot handle all of our clean files together.
+# Then it became a fancy find using many GNU extensions, but then the ugly
+# reality of portability was raised and it became....
 clean-local:
-	-${FIND} . -name '*.ps' -print       | ${XARGS} ${RM}
-	-${FIND} . -name '*.pdf' -print      | ${XARGS} ${RM}
-	-${FIND} . -name '*.svg' -print      | ${XARGS} ${RM}
-	-${FIND} . -name '*-out.png' -print  | ${XARGS} ${RM}
+	-${FIND} . -name '*.ps'       -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
+	-${FIND} . -name '*.pdf'      -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
+	-${FIND} . -name '*.svg'      -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
+	-${FIND} . -name '*-out.png'  -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
 	-${FIND} . -name '*-diff.png' -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
-	-${FIND} . -name '*.log' -print      | ${XARGS} ${RM}
+	-${FIND} . -name '*.log'      -print | ${XARGS} ${RM}
 
 # Check tests under valgrind
 # Saves log to valgrind-log