diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2569a766..b352e039 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -303,7 +303,11 @@ case $sysdesc in
     AC_CHECK_HEADER([linux/rtnetlink.h],
       [],
       [AC_MSG_ERROR([Appropriate version of Linux kernel headers not found.])],
-      [] dnl Force new AC_CHECK_HEADER semantics
+      [
+	dnl Some older versions of Linux kernel headers require these includes
+	#include <asm/types.h>
+	#include <sys/socket.h>
+      ]
     )
     ;;
 esac
@@ -337,7 +341,7 @@ if test "$enable_client" = yes ; then
   AC_CHECK_HEADERS([curses.h],
     [],
     [AC_MSG_ERROR([The client requires ncurses library. Either install the library or use --disable-client to compile without the client.])],
-    [] dnl Force new AC_CHECK_HEADER semantics
+    [AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT]
   )
 
   AC_SEARCH_LIBS([tgetent], [tinfo tinfow ncurses curses termcap],
@@ -348,7 +352,7 @@ if test "$enable_client" = yes ; then
   AC_CHECK_HEADERS([readline/readline.h readline/history.h],
     [],
     [AC_MSG_ERROR([The client requires GNU Readline library. Either install the library or use --disable-client to compile without the client.])],
-    [] dnl Force new AC_CHECK_HEADER semantics
+    [AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT]
   )
 
   AC_SEARCH_LIBS([add_history], [history],