diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a995a05a6d..ed49daa915 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ LIBVIRT_ARG_VIRTUALPORT
 LIBVIRT_ARG_WIRESHARK
 LIBVIRT_ARG_YAJL
 
+LIBVIRT_CHECK_ACL
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_APPARMOR
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_ATOMIC
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_ATTR
@@ -325,19 +326,11 @@ dnl Availability of various common headers (non-fatal if missing).
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([pwd.h regex.h sys/un.h \
   sys/poll.h syslog.h mntent.h net/ethernet.h linux/magic.h \
   sys/un.h sys/syscall.h sys/sysctl.h netinet/tcp.h ifaddrs.h \
-  libtasn1.h sys/ucred.h sys/mount.h sys/acl.h])
+  libtasn1.h sys/ucred.h sys/mount.h])
 dnl Check whether endian provides handy macros.
 AC_CHECK_DECLS([htole64], [], [], [[#include <endian.h>]])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([stat stat64 __xstat __xstat64 lstat lstat64 __lxstat __lxstat64])
 
-ACL_CFLAGS=""
-ACL_LIBS=""
-if test "x$ac_cv_header_sys_acl_h:x$with_linux" = "xyes:xyes" ; then
-    ACL_LIBS="-lacl"
-fi
-AC_SUBST([ACL_CFLAGS])
-AC_SUBST([ACL_LIBS])
-
 AC_CHECK_TYPE([struct ifreq],
   [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_STRUCT_IFREQ],[1],
     [Defined if struct ifreq exists in net/if.h])],
@@ -951,6 +944,7 @@ LIBVIRT_RESULT_DRIVER_MODULES
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([Libraries])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
+LIBVIRT_RESULT_ACL
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_APPARMOR
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_ATTR
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_AUDIT
diff --git a/m4/virt-acl.m4 b/m4/virt-acl.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f7d1c6d0d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/virt-acl.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+dnl ACL support
+dnl
+dnl Copyright (C) 2017 Red Hat, Inc.
+dnl
+dnl This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+dnl modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+dnl License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+dnl version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+dnl
+dnl This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+dnl but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+dnl Lesser General Public License for more details.
+dnl
+dnl You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+dnl License along with this library.  If not, see
+dnl <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+dnl
+
+AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_ACL], [
+
+  AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/acl.h])
+
+  ACL_CFLAGS=""
+  ACL_LIBS=""
+  if test "x$ac_cv_header_sys_acl_h:x$with_linux" = "xyes:xyes"; then
+    ACL_LIBS="-lacl"
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST([ACL_CFLAGS])
+  AC_SUBST([ACL_LIBS])
+])
+
+AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_RESULT_ACL], [
+  LIBVIRT_RESULT_LIB([ACL])
+])