--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
# Ok, this is linux. Check the kernel version
AC_MSG_CHECKING([for the kernel version])
- kernel=`uname -r`
+ kernel=${UNAME_R:-`uname -r`}
case "${kernel}" in
2.6.*|3.*)