diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 8a58ea7..f96e3a7 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
+generator_built = src/guestfs-actions.pod src/guestfs-availability.pod src/guestfs-structs.pod
+
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
 # Basic source for the library.
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index da37b8d..bb84ef2 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -478,66 +478,96 @@ AC_SUBST([HIVEX_CFLAGS])
 AC_SUBST([HIVEX_LIBS])
 
 dnl FUSE is optional to build the FUSE module.
-HAVE_FUSE=yes
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([FUSE],[fuse],,[
-        HAVE_FUSE=no
-        AC_MSG_WARN([FUSE library and headers are missing, so optional FUSE module won't be built])])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_FUSE],[test "x$HAVE_FUSE" = "xyes"])
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([fuse], 
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-fuse], [Build FUSE module]),
+    [],
+    [enable_fuse="no"])
+if test "x$enable_fuse" == "xyes"; then
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([FUSE],[fuse],,[
+            AC_MSG_ERROR([FUSE library and headers are missing, so optional FUSE module cannot be built])])
+fi
+    AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_FUSE],[test "x$enable_fuse" = "xyes"])
 
 dnl Check for OCaml (optional, for OCaml bindings).
-AC_PROG_OCAML
-AC_PROG_FINDLIB
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_OCAML],[test "x$OCAMLC" != "xno" && test "x$OCAMLFIND" != "xno"])
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([ocaml],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ocaml], [Enable optional OCaml binding]),
+    [],
+    [enable_ocaml=no])
+if test "x$enable_ocaml" == "xyes"; then
+    AC_PROG_OCAML
+    AC_PROG_FINDLIB
+    if test "x$OCAMLC" == "xno" -o "x$OCAMLFIND" == "xno"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([OCaml not found, so cannot build OCaml bindings])
+    fi
 
-dnl Optional xml-light for running the generator.
-OCAML_PKG_xml_light=no
-if test "x$OCAMLC" != "xno" && test "x$OCAMLFIND" != "xno"; then
+    dnl Optional xml-light for running the generator.
+    OCAML_PKG_xml_light=no
     AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([xml-light])
+    if test "x$OCAML_PKG_xml_light" == "xno"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([xml-light OCaml package not found])
+    fi
+
+    dnl Build the OCaml viewer example.  This has a lengthy list of
+    dnl dependencies and we don't attempt to detect them all.  Read
+    dnl the top of ocaml/examples/viewer.ml before enabling this.
+    AC_ARG_ENABLE([ocaml-viewer],
+            [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ocaml-viewer],
+              [enable OCaml viewer (see ocaml/examples) @<:@default=no@:>@])],
+            [],
+            [enable_ocaml_viewer=no])
 fi
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_XML_LIGHT],[test "x$OCAML_PKG_xml_light" != "xno"])
-
-dnl Build the OCaml viewer example.  This has a lengthy list of
-dnl dependencies and we don't attempt to detect them all.  Read
-dnl the top of ocaml/examples/viewer.ml before enabling this.
-AC_ARG_ENABLE([ocaml-viewer],
-        [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ocaml-viewer],
-          [enable OCaml viewer (see ocaml/examples) @<:@default=no@:>@])],
-        [],
-        [enable_ocaml_viewer=no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([BUILD_OCAML_VIEWER],[test "x$enable_ocaml_viewer" = "xyes"])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_OCAML],[test "x$enable_ocaml" == "xyes"])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_XML_LIGHT],[test "x$with_xml_light" == "xyes"])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([BUILD_OCAML_VIEWER],[test "x$enable_ocaml_viewer" == "xyes"])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([perl],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-perl], [Enable building optional perl bindings]),
+    [],
+    [enable_perl=no])
+if test "x$enable_perl" == "xyes"; then
 dnl Check for Perl (optional, for Perl bindings).
 dnl XXX This isn't quite right, we should check for Perl devel library.
 AC_CHECK_PROG([PERL],[perl],[perl],[no])
-
-dnl Check for Perl modules that must be present to compile and
-dnl test the Perl bindings.
-missing_perl_modules=no
-for pm in Test::More ExtUtils::MakeMaker; do
-    AC_MSG_CHECKING([for $pm])
-    if ! perl -M$pm -e1 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
-        missing_perl_modules=yes
-    else
-        AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+if test "x$PERL" == "xno"; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([perl not found so cannot build perl bindings])
+else
+    dnl Check for Perl modules that must be present to compile and
+    dnl test the Perl bindings.
+    missing_perl_modules=no
+    for pm in Test::More ExtUtils::MakeMaker; do
+        AC_MSG_CHECKING([for $pm])
+        if ! perl -M$pm -e1 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+            missing_perl_modules=yes
+        else
+            AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+        fi
+    done
+    if test "x$missing_perl_modules" = "xyes"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([some Perl modules required to compile or test the Perl bindings are missing])
     fi
-done
-if test "x$missing_perl_modules" = "xyes"; then
-    AC_MSG_WARN([some Perl modules required to compile or test the Perl bindings are missing])
 fi
+fi
+    AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PERL],
+        [test "x$enable_perl" == "xyes"])
 
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PERL],
-    [test "x$PERL" != "xno" && test "x$missing_perl_modules" != "xyes"])
-
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([python],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-python], [Enable building optional Python bindings]),
+    [],
+    [enable_python=no])
+if test "x$enable_python" == "xyes"; then
 dnl Check for Python (optional, for Python bindings).
 AC_CHECK_PROG([PYTHON],[python],[python],[no])
 
+if test "x$PYTHON" == "xno"; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([Python not found so cannot build python bindings])
+fi
+
 PYTHON_PREFIX=
 PYTHON_VERSION=
 PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR=
 PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES=
 
-if test "x$PYTHON" != "xno"; then
     PYTHON_PREFIX=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; print sys.prefix"`
     PYTHON_VERSION=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; print sys.version[[0:3]]"`
     for d in \
@@ -553,6 +583,9 @@ if test "x$PYTHON" != "xno"; then
         fi
         AC_MSG_RESULT([not found])
     done
+    if test -z "$PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([Python include directory not found])
+    fi
     for d in \
         $PYTHON_PREFIX/lib64/python$PYTHON_VERSION/site-packages \
         $PYTHON_PREFIX/lib/python$PYTHON_VERSION/site-packages \
@@ -568,27 +601,42 @@ if test "x$PYTHON" != "xno"; then
         fi
         AC_MSG_RESULT([not found])
     done
+    if test -z "$PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([Python site-packages directory not found])
+    fi
 
     old_LIBS="$LIBS"
     LIBS="$LIBS -lpython$PYTHON_VERSION"
     AC_CHECK_FUNCS([PyCapsule_New])
     LIBS="$old_LIBS"
-fi
 
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_PREFIX)
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_VERSION)
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR)
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES)
-
+fi
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PYTHON],
-    [test "x$PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR" != "x" && test "x$PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES" != "x"])
+    [test "x$enable_python" == "xyes"])
 
+
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([ruby],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ruby], [Enable building optional Ruby bindings]),
+    [],
+    [enable_ruby=no])
+if test "x$enable_ruby" == "xyes"; then
 dnl Check for Ruby and rake (optional, for Ruby bindings).
 AC_CHECK_LIB([ruby],[ruby_init],[HAVE_LIBRUBY=1],[HAVE_LIBRUBY=0])
 AC_CHECK_PROG([RAKE],[rake],[rake],[no])
 
+if test -z "x$HAVE_LIBRUBY"; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([Ruby library not found so cannot build Ruby bindings])
+fi
+if test "x$RAKE" == "xno"; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([rake not found])
+fi
+fi
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_RUBY],
-    [test "x$RAKE" != "xno" && test -n "$HAVE_LIBRUBY"])
+    [test "x$enable_ruby" == "xyes"])
 
 dnl Check for Java.
 AC_ARG_WITH(java_home,
@@ -728,14 +776,29 @@ AC_SUBST(JAR_INSTALL_DIR)
 AC_SUBST(JNI_INSTALL_DIR)
 AC_SUBST(JNI_VERSION_INFO)
 
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_JAVA],[test -n "$JAVAC"])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_JAVA],[test -n "$JAVAC" -a "x$with_java_home" != "xno"])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([haskell],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-haskell], [Enable building optional Haskell bindings]),
+    [],
+    [enable_haskell=no])
+if test "x$enable_haskell" == "xyes"; then
 dnl Check for Haskell (GHC).
-AC_CHECK_PROG([GHC],[ghc],[ghc],[no])
-
+AC_CHECK_PROG([GHC],[ghc],[ghc],[AC_MSG_ERROR([GHC not found])])
+fi
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_HASKELL],
-    [test "x$GHC" != "xno"])
+    [test "x$enable_haskell" = "xyes"])
 
+if test "x$enable_perl" == "xyes"; then
+AC_ARG_WITH([inspector],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--with-inspector], [Enable building virt-inspector]),
+    [],
+    [with_inspector=no])
+AC_ARG_WITH([tools],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--with-tools], [Enable building virt-* tools]),
+    [],
+    [with_tools=no])
+if test "x$with_inspector" == "xyes" -o "x$with_tools" == "xyes"; then
 dnl Check for Perl modules needed by virt-df, inspector, etc.
 missing_perl_modules=no
 for pm in Pod::Usage Getopt::Long Sys::Virt Data::Dumper XML::Writer Locale::TextDomain Win::Hivex Win::Hivex::Regedit; do
@@ -748,22 +811,36 @@ for pm in Pod::Usage Getopt::Long Sys::Virt Data::Dumper XML::Writer Locale::Tex
     fi
 done
 if test "x$missing_perl_modules" = "xyes"; then
-    AC_MSG_WARN([some Perl modules required to compile virt-inspector and the other virt-* tools are missing])
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([some Perl modules required to compile virt-inspector and/or the other virt-* tools are missing])
+fi
+fi
 fi
-
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_INSPECTOR],
-    [test "x$PERL" != "xno" && test "x$missing_perl_modules" != "xyes"])
+    [test "x$with_inspector" == "xyes"])
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_TOOLS],
-    [test "x$PERL" != "xno" && test "x$missing_perl_modules" != "xyes"])
+    [test "x$with_tools" == "xyes"])
+
 
+AC_ARG_WITH([po4a],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--with-po4a], [Use po4a tool for translating documentation]),
+    [],
+    [with_po4a=no])
+if test "x$with_po4a" == "xyes"; then
 dnl po4a for translating man pages and POD files (optional).
-AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A],[po4a],[po4a],[no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$PO4A" != "xno"])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A],[po4a],[po4a],[AC_MSG_ERROR([po4a not found])])
+fi
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$with_po4a" == "xyes"])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([php],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-php], [Enable building optional php bindigns]),
+    [],
+    [enable_php=no])
+if test "x$enable_php" == "xyes"; then
 dnl PHP
-AC_CHECK_PROG([PHP],[php],[php],[no])
-AC_CHECK_PROG([PHPIZE],[phpize],[phpize],[no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PHP], [test "x$PHP" != "xno" && test "x$PHPIZE" != "xno"])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PHP],[php],[php],[AC_MSG_ERROR([php not found])])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PHPIZE],[phpize],[phpize],[AC_MSG_ERROR([phpize not found])])
+fi
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PHP], [test "x$enable_php" == "xyes"])
 
 dnl Library versioning.
 MAX_PROC_NR=`cat $srcdir/src/MAX_PROC_NR`
diff --git a/po-docs/ja/Makefile.am b/po-docs/ja/Makefile.am
index 83a2340..7fed340 100644
--- a/po-docs/ja/Makefile.am
+++ b/po-docs/ja/Makefile.am
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 	libguestfs-test-tool.pod \
 	$(wildcard virt-*.pl)
 
-all-local: $(MANPAGES)
-
 if HAVE_PO4A
 
+all-local: $(MANPAGES)
+
 guestfs.3: guestfs.pod guestfs-actions.pod guestfs-availability.pod guestfs-structs.pod
 	sed \
 	  -e '/@ACTIONS@/rguestfs-actions.pod' \
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ virt-%.1: virt-%.pl
 	  --release "$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)" \
 	  $< > $@-t && mv $@-t $@
 
+else
+
+all-local: 
+
 endif
 
 # XXX Can automake do this properly?
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 4bcf7e9..0d7e198 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ generator_built = \
 	bindtests.c \
 	errnostring_gperf.gperf \
 	errnostring.c \
-	errnostring.h
+	errnostring.h \
 	guestfs-actions.pod \
 	guestfs-availability.pod \
 	guestfs-structs.pod \