diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 55fe19a55d971bc82e1bd3fe6162af07f1f2505b..fb00031e049828f5a6f161ee451f0907f34ce322 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ m4_include([m4/ac_prog_java.m4])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([tsk/base/tsk_base.h])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([tsk/tsk_config.h])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR(config)
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign tar-ustar])
 AM_PATH_CPPUNIT(1.12.1)
 AM_CONDITIONAL([CPPUNIT],[test "x$no_cppunit" = x])
 AM_PROG_LIBTOOL