diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 96adde044c..24d0721087 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -428,14 +428,18 @@ case $system in
                  SUBARCH=default
 		fi
 		AC_MSG_RESULT(linux)
+                GUESS_LINUX_VERSION=
                 if test "x$enable_kernel_module" = "xyes"; then
-                 case "$LINUX_VERSION" in
+                 GUESS_LINUX_VERSION=${LINUX_VERSION}
+                else
+                 GUESS_LINUX_VERSION=`uname -r`
+                fi
+                case "$GUESS_LINUX_VERSION" in
                   2.2.*) AFS_SYSKVERS=22 ;;
                   2.4.*) AFS_SYSKVERS=24 ;;
                   2.6.* | 3.*) AFS_SYSKVERS=26 ;;
                   *) AC_MSG_ERROR(Couldn't guess your Linux version [2]) ;;
-                 esac
-                fi
+                esac
                 ;;
         *-solaris*)
 		MKAFS_OSTYPE=SOLARIS