diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 88ad4f74b..57bf60111 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ PACKAGE=cairo
 LIBTOOLIZE=${LIBTOOLIZE-libtoolize}
 LIBTOOLIZE_FLAGS="--copy --force"
 AUTOHEADER=${AUTOHEADER-autoheader}
-AUTOMAKE_FLAGS="--add-missing"
+AUTOMAKE_FLAGS="--add-missing --foreign"
 AUTOCONF=${AUTOCONF-autoconf}
 
 # automake 1.8 requires autoconf 2.58