diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b4c4d859e..9d9a993a9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -869,6 +869,16 @@ if test x$xml = xtrue; then
 	AC_SUBST(xml_LIBS)
 fi
 
+if test x$systemd = xtrue; then
+	PKG_CHECK_MODULES(systemd_daemon, [libsystemd-daemon])
+	AC_SUBST(systemd_daemon_CFLAGS)
+	AC_SUBST(systemd_daemon_LIBS)
+
+	PKG_CHECK_MODULES(systemd_journal, [libsystemd-journal])
+	AC_SUBST(systemd_journal_CFLAGS)
+	AC_SUBST(systemd_journal_LIBS)
+fi
+
 if test x$tss = xtrousers; then
 	AC_CHECK_LIB([tspi],[main],[LIBS="$LIBS"],[AC_MSG_ERROR([TrouSerS library libtspi not found])],[])
 	AC_CHECK_HEADER([trousers/tss.h],,[AC_MSG_ERROR([TrouSerS header trousers/tss.h not found!])])
diff --git a/src/charon-systemd/Makefile.am b/src/charon-systemd/Makefile.am
index b9a251f6c..1b9ac150f 100644
--- a/src/charon-systemd/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/charon-systemd/Makefile.am
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ charon_systemd_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/src/libstrongswan \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/src/libhydra \
 	-I$(top_srcdir)/src/libcharon \
+	$(systemd_daemon_CFLAGS) $(systemd_journal_CFLAGS) \
 	-DPLUGINS=\""${charon_plugins}\""
 
 charon_systemd_LDADD = \
 	$(top_builddir)/src/libstrongswan/libstrongswan.la \
 	$(top_builddir)/src/libhydra/libhydra.la \
 	$(top_builddir)/src/libcharon/libcharon.la \
-	-lsystemd-daemon -lsystemd-journal -lm $(PTHREADLIB) $(DLLIB)
+	$(systemd_daemon_LIBS) $(systemd_journal_LIBS) -lm $(PTHREADLIB) $(DLLIB)