diff --git a/src/auto/configure b/src/auto/configure
index 5c1464835300ee..9712104cde7ae7 100755
--- a/src/auto/configure
+++ b/src/auto/configure
@@ -650,6 +650,7 @@ ac_subst_vars='LTLIBOBJS
 LIBOBJS
 LINK_AS_NEEDED
 DEPEND_CFLAGS_FILTER
+MSGFMTCMD
 MSGFMT_DESKTOP
 MAKEMO
 MSGFMT
@@ -15964,6 +15965,18 @@ printf "%s\n" "yes" >&6; }
 printf "%s\n" "no" >&6; }
       fi
 
+      { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking if msgfmt supports --no-convert" >&5
+printf %s "checking if msgfmt supports --no-convert... " >&6; }
+      if "$MSGFMT" --help | grep -q --  '--no-convert' >/dev/null; then
+        { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "yes" >&6; }
+        MSGFMTCMD="OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes msgfmt --no-convert -v"
+      else
+        { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "no" >&6; }
+        MSGFMTCMD="OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes msgfmt -v"
+      fi
+
     fi
   else
     { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no \"po/Makefile\" - disabled" >&5
diff --git a/src/config.mk.in b/src/config.mk.in
index 4eb692839be5d0..2aaaf69f4343f3 100644
--- a/src/config.mk.in
+++ b/src/config.mk.in
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ OS_EXTRA_OBJ	= @OS_EXTRA_OBJ@
 MAKEMO		= @MAKEMO@
 
 MSGFMT		= @MSGFMT@
+MSGFMTCMD	= @MSGFMTCMD@
 MSGFMT_DESKTOP	= @MSGFMT_DESKTOP@
 
 ### set if $SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH was set when running configure
diff --git a/src/configure.ac b/src/configure.ac
index 664f2194054e07..6311269e158fd7 100644
--- a/src/configure.ac
+++ b/src/configure.ac
@@ -4523,6 +4523,15 @@ if test "$enable_nls" = "yes"; then
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
       fi
       AC_SUBST(MSGFMT_DESKTOP)
+      AC_MSG_CHECKING([if msgfmt supports --no-convert])
+      if "$MSGFMT" --help | grep -q --  '--no-convert' >/dev/null; then
+        AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+        MSGFMTCMD="OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes msgfmt --no-convert -v"
+      else
+        AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+        MSGFMTCMD="OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes msgfmt -v"
+      fi
+      AC_SUBST(MSGFMTCMD)
     fi
   else
     AC_MSG_RESULT([no "po/Makefile" - disabled]);
diff --git a/src/po/Makefile b/src/po/Makefile
index 03aaa532c608b4..6f505b2208bd8a 100644
--- a/src/po/Makefile
+++ b/src/po/Makefile
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@ SED = LANG=C sed
 # tools 0.10.37, which use a slightly different .po file format that is not
 # compatible with Solaris (and old gettext implementations) unless these are
 # set.  gettext 0.10.36 will not work!
-MSGFMTC != if $(MSGFMT) --help |grep -q -- --no-convert ; then echo msgfmt -v --no-convert; else echo msgfmt -v; fi
-MSGFMTCMD = OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes $(MSGFMTC)
+
+# MSGFMTCMD is defined by Configure in ../auto/config.mk
+# MSGFMTCMD = OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes $(MSGFMT) -v
 XGETTEXT = OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes OLD_PO_FILE_OUTPUT=yes xgettext
 MSGMERGE = OLD_PO_FILE_INPUT=yes OLD_PO_FILE_OUTPUT=yes msgmerge