diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a9155e0b..bae1c5b0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ AC_CHECK_DECL(static_assert, [],
 PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(MTDEV, [mtdev >= 1.1.0])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBUDEV, [libudev])
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBEVDEV, [libevdev >= 1.3])
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBEVDEV, [libevdev >= 0.4])
 
 AC_CHECK_LIB([m], [atan2])
 AC_CHECK_LIB([rt], [clock_gettime])
diff --git a/test/litest.c b/test/litest.c
index 3d5ada95..24baf816 100644
--- a/test/litest.c
+++ b/test/litest.c
@@ -2382,6 +2382,10 @@ litest_create_uinput(const char *name,
 	rc = libevdev_uinput_create_from_device(dev,
 					        LIBEVDEV_UINPUT_OPEN_MANAGED,
 						&uinput);
+	/* workaround for a bug in libevdev pre-1.3
+	   http://cgit.freedesktop.org/libevdev/commit/?id=debe9b030c8069cdf78307888ef3b65830b25122 */
+	if (rc == -EBADF)
+		rc = -EACCES;
 	litest_assert_msg(rc == 0, "Failed to create uinput device: %s", strerror(-rc));
 
 	libevdev_free(dev);