diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e5bc551..9f13c83 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -203,6 +203,21 @@ fi
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_GTK_DOC, test x$enable_gtk_doc = xyes)
 
+##################################################
+# Check for txt2man
+##################################################
+
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(man, [  --disable-man	Disable man generation], enable_man="$enableval", [enable_man=yes])
+if test "$enable_man" = yes; then
+  if ! which txt2man > /dev/null; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([Could not find txt2man script. Install it or configure with --disable-man if you are not interrested in manuals.])
+  fi
+fi
+AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_MAN, test "$enable_man" = yes)
+
+##################################################
+# Check for docbook
+##################################################
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_DOCBOOK, test -n "$DOCBOOK_DSL")
 
 dnl Checks for library functions.
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index 6d7c3dc..d35a3e4 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ TXT2MAN = txt2man
 PRODUCT = MDBTools
 
 # To make the userguide, export DOCBOOK_DSL TO point to docbook.dsl.
-
-dist_man_MANS	= mdb-tables.1 mdb-ver.1 mdb-export.1 mdb-schema.1 mdb-sql.1 \
+dist_man_MANS =
+if ENABLE_MAN
+  dist_man_MANS += mdb-tables.1 mdb-ver.1 mdb-export.1 mdb-schema.1 mdb-sql.1 \
 	mdb-array.1 mdb-header.1 mdb-hexdump.1 mdb-parsecsv.1 mdb-prop.1 gmdb2.1
+endif
 if ENABLE_DOCBOOK
   dist_man_MANS += install.tgz
 endif
@@ -15,7 +17,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST	= mdb-tables.txt mdb-ver.txt mdb-export.txt mdb-schema.txt mdb-sql.tx
 	faq.html install.sgml
 
 .txt.1:
-	- $(TXT2MAN) -t $* -r "$(PRODUCT) $(VERSION)" -s 1 -v "Executable programs or shell commands" $(srcdir)/$< > $@
+	$(TXT2MAN) -t $* -r "$(PRODUCT) $(VERSION)" -s 1 -v "Executable programs or shell commands" $(srcdir)/$< > $@
 
 # Converting DocBook to HTML (several small files)
 # http://www.freebsd.org/tutorials/docproj-primer/x3132.html#AEN3140