-AX_PTHREAD([HAVE_PTHREAD=yes], [HAVE_PTHREAD=no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_PTHREAD, test "x$HAVE_PTHREAD" = "xyes")
+dnl without arguments AX_PTHREAD() will do AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PTHREAD)
+dnl which later checks use in their test code
+AX_PTHREAD()
+AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_PTHREAD, test "x$ax_pthread_ok" = "xyes")