diff --git a/bootstrap.conf b/bootstrap.conf
index f3e204a1a7..769e57cd86 100644
--- a/bootstrap.conf
+++ b/bootstrap.conf
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ buildreq="\
 autoconf   2.59
 automake   1.9.6
 autopoint  -
-gettext    -
+gettext    0.17
 git        1.5.5
 gzip       -
 libtool    -
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8db3226bb1..e17e7aff10 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1984,13 +1984,9 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL([WITH_CIL],[test "$enable_locking" = "yes"])
 dnl Enable building libvirtd?
 AM_CONDITIONAL([WITH_LIBVIRTD],[test "x$with_libvirtd" = "xyes"])
 
-dnl Check for gettext
-AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.14.1])
+dnl Check for gettext - don't go any newer than what RHEL 5 supports
+AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.17])
 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
-dnl Since we're using such an old version of gettext, we must also define
-dnl this symbol, in order to make the autopoint-supplied Makefile.in.in
-dnl work properly.
-AC_SUBST([MKINSTALLDIRS], ["\$(top_builddir)/$ac_aux_dir/mkinstalldirs"])
 
 ALL_LINGUAS=`cd "$srcdir/po" > /dev/null && ls *.po | sed 's+\.po$++'`