diff --git a/getfem/m4/ac_python_devel.m4 b/getfem/m4/ac_python_devel.m4

index acfb21e..479aad7 100644

--- a/getfem/m4/ac_python_devel.m4

+++ b/getfem/m4/ac_python_devel.m4

@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ variable to configure. See ``configure --help'' for reference.

 	#

 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for the distutils Python package])

 	ac_distutils_result=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils" 2>&1`

-	if test -z "$ac_distutils_result"; then

+	if test $? -eq 0; then

 		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])

 	else

 		AC_MSG_RESULT([no])