diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ea84a3ed9..426b41413 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2005-03-07  Carl Worth  <cworth@cworth.org>
+
+	* configure.in: Make configure fail if no font backend is
+	available. Point the user at freetype and fontconfig.
+
 2005-03-06  Owen Taylor  <otaylor@redhat.com>
 
 	* src/cairo_pattern.c (_cairo_image_data_set_linear): Comment
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 9b571ab3a..9fd8649d3 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -444,3 +444,13 @@ echo "  Win32: $use_win32"
 echo "  ATSUI: $use_atsui"
 echo ""
 
+if test x"$use_freetype" != "xyes" && \
+   test x"$use_win32"    != "xyes" && \
+   test x"$use_atsui"    != "xyes" ; then
+
+   AC_MSG_ERROR([Cairo requires at least one font backend.
+		  Please install freetype and fontconfig, then try again:
+		  http://freetype.org/	http://fontconfig.org/
+		])
+fi
+