diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index febaa261f146a6d08b96a029ef8f8340cb08695f..1fe9d8fb6a692a0f712c5b91a3a784ec055ab45d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ AC_PROG_CXX
 AC_DISABLE_SHARED
 AC_PROG_LIBTOOL
 
+# check for auxiliary tools so that it's not fatal if they're missing
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([DOXYGEN], [doxygen], [true])
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([TEX], [latex], [true])
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([BIBTEX], [bibtex], [true])
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([DVIPDF], [dvipdf], [true])
+AC_CHECK_PROGS([DVIPS], [dvips], [true])
+
 # write output
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
 	         common/Makefile
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index 4fc614fe84bd56e36853b58f20a3693e32ee80ab..a34b12809e317e6e97bafec815b00211c90bd9a0 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ all: doxygen-tag
 
 doxygen-tag: Doxyfile
 @AMDEP_TRUE@	./Doxydep $< $(DEPDIR)/doxygen.Po $@
-	doxygen > doxygen.log 2>&1
+	$(DOXYGEN) > doxygen.log 2>&1
 	touch doxygen-tag
 
 WEBDIR = /var/www/dune/doxygen
diff --git a/istl/doc/Makefile.am b/istl/doc/Makefile.am
index cf0d54ac59d3b51bcf9955e4ac97bc452707ea80..69673c83c21d9fec2220ac2663e36383c26d1379 100644
--- a/istl/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/istl/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -2,12 +2,6 @@
 
 dist_pkgdata_DATA = istl.pdf istl.ps
 
-# !! let autoconf find the binaries
-TEX = latex
-BIBTEX = bibtex
-DVIPDF = dvipdf
-DVIPS = dvips
-
 SUFFIXES = .dvi .tex .pdf
 
 # rerun TEX if log-file suggests that