diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b0618f2..73156fc 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/patchelf.cc])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.11.1 -Wall -Werror dist-bzip2 foreign color-tests parallel-tests])
 
+AC_CHECK_TOOL([STRIP], [strip])
+
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 AC_PROG_CXX
 AM_PROG_AS
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 4b8a027..24032f7 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 LIBS =
 
-STRIP ?= strip
-
 check_PROGRAMS = simple-pie simple main too-many-strtab main-scoped big-dynstr no-rpath contiguous-note-sections
 
 no_rpath_arch_TESTS = \