diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index be5c4e35b17..c1c49700029 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1960,7 +1960,10 @@ CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -x objective-c"
 GNU_OBJC_CFLAGS=
 LIBS_GNUSTEP=
 if test "${with_ns}" != no; then
-  if test "${opsys}" = darwin; then
+  # macfont.o requires macuvs.h which is absent in the repository,
+  # so avoid NS_IMPL_COCOA if macuvs.h is absent.
+  # Even a headless Emacs can build macuvs.h, so this lets you bootstrap.
+  if test "${opsys}" = darwin && test -f "$srcdir/src/macuvs.h"; then
      NS_IMPL_COCOA=yes
      ns_appdir=`pwd`/nextstep/Emacs.app
      ns_appbindir=${ns_appdir}/Contents/MacOS