diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 254f15bef3e..cda2a04be95 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4292,7 +4292,8 @@ if test "${opsys}" = "mingw32"; then
   fi
 elif test "${HAVE_X11}" = "yes" && test "${with_gif}" != "no" \
         || test "${HAVE_W32}" = "yes" || test "${HAVE_NS}" = "yes" \
-	|| test "${HAVE_BE_APP}" = "yes" || test "$window_system" = "pgtk"; then
+	|| test "${HAVE_BE_APP}" = "yes" || test "$window_system" = "pgtk" \
+	&& test "${with_gif}" != "no"; then
   AC_CHECK_HEADER(gif_lib.h,
 # EGifPutExtensionLast only exists from version libungif-4.1.0b1.
 # Earlier versions can crash Emacs, but version 5.0 removes EGifPutExtensionLast.