diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 7f35b80327..74dfe1fd47 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2001-08-28  Sven Neumann  <sven@gimp.org>
+
+	* HACKING
+	* autogen.sh: libtool >= 1.3.4 should be good enough
+
 2001-08-28  Sven Neumann  <sven@gimp.org>
 
 	* acinclude.m4: removed redefinitions of libtool macros. We use the
diff --git a/HACKING b/HACKING
index 44a4f85350..cce0029435 100644
--- a/HACKING
+++ b/HACKING
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 Requirements
 ------------
-If you want to hack on the GIMP project, it will make you life easier
-to have the following packages installed:
+If you want to hack on the GIMP project, it will make your life easier
+to have the following packages (or newer versions) installed:
 
 	- GNU autoconf 2.13
 	- GNU automake 1.4
-	- GNU libtool 1.2d
+	- GNU libtool 1.3.4
 	- GNU gettext 10.38
 		Available in ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu
 
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 563443ca8a..061e351d27 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -12,22 +12,13 @@ FILE=plug-ins
 
 DIE=0
 
-have_libtool=false
-if libtool --version < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
-        libtool_version=`libtoolize --version |  libtoolize --version | sed 's/^[^0-9]*\([0-9.][0-9.]*\).*/\1/'`
-        case $libtool_version in
-            1.4*)
-                have_libtool=true
-                ;;
-        esac
-fi
-if $have_libtool ; then : ; else
+(libtool --version) < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 || {
         echo
-        echo "You must have libtool 1.4 installed to compile $PROJECT."
+        echo "You must have libtool installed to compile $PROJECT."
         echo "Install the appropriate package for your distribution,"
         echo "or get the source tarball at ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/"
         DIE=1
-fi
+}
 
 (autoconf --version) < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 || {
 	echo
@@ -45,11 +36,20 @@ fi
 	DIE=1
 }
 
-echo "I am testing that you have the required versions of autoconf, automake"
-echo "and gettext. This test is not foolproof, so if anything goes wrong,"
-echo "see the file HACKING for more information..."
+echo "I am testing that you have the required versions of libtool, autoconf," 
+echo "automake and gettext. This test is not foolproof, so if anything goes"
+echo "wrong, see the file HACKING for more information..."
 echo
 
+echo "Testing libtool... "
+VER=`libtoolize --version | grep libtool | sed "s/.* \([0-9.]*\)[-a-z0-9]*$/\1/"`
+if expr $VER \>= 1.3.4 >/dev/null; then
+	echo "looks OK."
+else
+	echo "too old! (Need 1.3.4, have $VER)"
+	DIE=1
+fi
+
 echo "Testing autoconf... "
 VER=`autoconf --version | grep -iw autoconf | sed "s/.* \([0-9.]*\)[-a-z0-9]*$/\1/"`
 if expr $VER \>= 2.13 >/dev/null; then