diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index 93c96f4088..77640722f6 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -209,24 +209,10 @@ check_make() {
 
 
 check_awk() {
-  #
-  # Check to make sure we have GNU Make installed
-  #  
-  
-  awk=`which awk`
-  if [ -x "$awk" ]; then
-     awk_version=`$awk --version | head -n 1 |grep GNU`
-     if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-        awk=`which gawk`
-        if [ -x "$awk" ]; then
-          awk_version=`$awk --version | head -n 1 |grep GNU`
-	  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then 
-            echo "GNU awk does not exist or is not executable"
-            exit 1;
-          fi
-        fi
-      fi
-   fi
+  # TODO: Building with mawk on at least Debian squeeze is know to
+  # work, but mawk is believed to fail on some systems.  If we can
+  # replicate this, we need a particular behavior that we can test
+  # here to verify whether we have an acceptable awk.
 }