diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 8c459bc..be8eaba 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1,312 +1,318 @@
 AC_PREREQ(2.59)
 AC_INIT(libpst,0.6.41,carl@five-ten-sg.com)
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/libpst.c])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADER([config.h])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 
 #
 #  1. Remember that version-info is current:revision:age, and age <= current.
 #  2. If the source code has changed at all since the last public release,
 #     then increment revision (`c:r:a' becomes `c:r+1:a').
 #  3. If any interfaces have been added, removed, or changed since the last
 #     update, increment current, and set revision to 0.
 #  4. If any interfaces have been added since the last public release, then
 #     increment age, since we should be backward compatible with the previous
 #     version.
 #  5. If any interfaces have been removed or changed since the last public
 #     release, then set age to 0, since we are not backward compatible.
 #  6. libtool will build libpst.so.x.y.z where the SONAME is libpst.so.x
 #     and x=current-age, y=age, z=revision
 
 libpst_version_info='4:0:0'
 AC_SUBST(LIBPST_VERSION_INFO, [$libpst_version_info])
 libpst_so_major='4'
 AC_SUBST(LIBPST_SO_MAJOR, [$libpst_so_major])
 
 # libpst
 # version   soname          so library name
 # 0.6.35    libpst.so.2     libpst.so.2.0.0
 # 0.6.37    libpst.so.2     libpst.so.2.1.0
 # 0.6.38    libpst.so.2     libpst.so.2.1.0
 
 
 
 # Check for win32
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Win32])
 case "$host" in
     *-mingw*)
         os_win32=yes
         ;;
     *)
         os_win32=no
         ;;
 esac
 AC_MSG_RESULT($os_win32)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(OS_WIN32, [test "$os_win32" = "yes"])
 
 
 # Check for Win32 platform
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Win32 platform in general])
 case "$host" in
     *-cygwin*)
         platform_win32=yes
         ;;
     *)
         platform_win32=$os_win32
         ;;
 esac
 AC_MSG_RESULT($platform_win32)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(PLATFORM_WIN32, [test "$platform_win32" = "yes"])
 
 
 # Checks for programs.
 # The following lines adds the --enable-dii option to configure:
 #
 # Give the user the choice to enter one of these:
 # --enable-dii
 # --enable-dii=yes
 # --enable-dii=no
 #
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether we are enabling dii utility])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(dii,
     AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-dii], [enable dii utility]),
     [
         case "${enableval}" in
           yes) ;;
           no)  ;;
           *)   AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-dii) ;;
         esac
     ],
     # default if not specified
     enable_dii=yes
     )
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_dii])
 AC_PATH_PROG(CONVERT, convert)
 if test "x$CONVERT" = "x" ; then
     if test "$enable_dii" = "yes"; then
         enable_dii=no
         AC_MSG_WARN([convert program not found. pst2dii disabled])
     fi
 else
     if test "x`$CONVERT --version 2>&1 | grep -i imagemagick >/dev/null ; echo $?`" != "x0"; then
         if test "$enable_dii" = "yes"; then
             enable_dii=no
             AC_MSG_WARN([wrong convert program found. pst2dii disabled])
         fi
     fi
 fi
 AC_CHECK_HEADER([gd.h],
                 [
                     AC_DEFINE([HAVE_GD_H], [1], [Define to 1 if you have the <gd.h> header file.])
                 ],
                 [
                     if test "$enable_dii" = "yes"; then
                         enable_dii=no
                         AC_MSG_WARN([gd.h not found. pst2dii disabled])
                     fi
                 ])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(BUILD_DII, [test "$enable_dii" = "yes"])
 
 
 # Checks for programs.
 AC_PROG_CXX
 AC_PROG_CC
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 AC_PROG_CPP
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_LIBTOOL
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_PROG_RANLIB
 
 
 # make sure we get large file support
 AC_SYS_LARGEFILE
 AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(off_t)
 
 
 # Checks for header files.
 AC_CHECK_HEADER([unistd.h],
     AM_CONDITIONAL(NEED_XGETOPT, [test yes = no]),
     AM_CONDITIONAL(NEED_XGETOPT, [test yes = yes])
     )
 AC_HEADER_DIRENT
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ctype.h dirent.h errno.h fcntl.h inttypes.h limits.h regex.h semaphore.h signal.h stdarg.h stdint.h stdio.h stdlib.h string.h sys/param.h sys/shm.h sys/stat.h sys/types.h time.h unistd.h wchar.h])
 AC_SEARCH_LIBS([sem_init],rt)
 
 
 # Checks for typedefs, structures, and compiler characteristics.
 AC_HEADER_STDBOOL
 AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT
 AC_C_CONST
 AC_C_INLINE
 AC_TYPE_OFF_T
 AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
 AC_TYPE_PID_T
 AC_STRUCT_TM
 
 
 # Checks for library functions.
 AC_FUNC_FORK
 AC_FUNC_FSEEKO
 AC_FUNC_STAT
 AC_FUNC_LSTAT
 AC_FUNC_LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK
 if test "$cross_compiling" != "yes"; then
     AC_FUNC_MALLOC
     AC_FUNC_MKTIME
     AC_FUNC_REALLOC
 fi
 AC_FUNC_STRFTIME
 AC_FUNC_VPRINTF
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([chdir getcwd memchr memmove memset regcomp strcasecmp strncasecmp strchr strdup strerror strpbrk strrchr strstr strtol])
 AM_ICONV
 if test "$am_cv_func_iconv" != "yes"; then
     AC_MSG_ERROR([libpst requires iconv which is missing])
 fi
 
 
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(regexec,,[AC_CHECK_LIB(regex,regexec,
                [REGEXLIB=-lregex
                 AC_DEFINE(HAVE_REGEXEC,1,[Define to 1 if you have the regexec function.])],
                [AC_MSG_ERROR([No regex library found])])])
 AC_SUBST(REGEXLIB)
 
 
 # The following lines adds the --enable-pst-debug option to configure:
 #
 # Give the user the choice to enter one of these:
 # --enable-pst-debug
 # --enable-pst-debug=yes
 # --enable-pst-debug=no
 #
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether we are forcing debug dump file creation])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(pst-debug,
     AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-pst-debug], [force debug dump file creation]),
     [
         case "${enableval}" in
           yes) ;;
           no)  ;;
           *)   AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-pst-debug) ;;
         esac
     ],
     # default if not specified
     enable_pst_debug=no
     )
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_pst_debug])
 if test "$enable_pst_debug" = "yes"; then
     AC_DEFINE(DEBUG_ALL, 1, Define to 1 to force debug dump file creation)
 fi
 
 
 # The following lines adds the --enable-libpst-shared option to configure:
 #
 # Give the user the choice to enter one of these:
 # --enable-libpst-shared
 # --enable-libpst-shared=yes
 # --enable-libpst-shared=no
 #
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether we are building libpst shared object])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(libpst-shared,
     AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-libpst-shared], [build libpst shared object]),
     [
         case "${enableval}" in
           yes) ;;
           no)  ;;
           *)   AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-libpst-shared) ;;
         esac
     ],
     # default if not specified
     enable_libpst_shared=no
     )
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_libpst_shared])
 enable_static_tools=yes
 if test "$enable_libpst_shared" = "yes"; then
     enable_shared=yes
     enable_static_tools=no
 fi
 
 # needed by STATIC_TOOLS in src/Makefile.am
 AC_SUBST(PST_OBJDIR, [$objdir])
 
 
 # The following lines adds the --enable-static-tools option to configure:
 #
 # Give the user the choice to enter one of these:
 # --enable-static-tools
 # --enable-static-tools=yes
 # --enable-static-tools=no
 #
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to link command line tools with libpst statically])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([static-tools],
     AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-static-tools], [link command line tools with libpst statically]),
     [
         case "${enableval}" in
           yes) ;;
           no)  ;;
           *)   AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --static-tools) ;;
         esac
     ],
     [
         enable_static_tools=no
     ])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_static_tools])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(STATIC_TOOLS, [test "$enable_static_tools" = "yes"])
 if test "$enable_static_tools" = "yes"; then
 	enable_static="yes"
 fi
 
 
 # The following lines adds the --enable-python option to configure:
 #
 # Give the user the choice to enter one of these:
 # --enable-python
 # --enable-python=yes
 # --enable-python=no
 #
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to build the libpst python interface])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([python],
     AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-python], [build libpst python interface]),
     [
         case "${enableval}" in
           yes) ;;
           no)  ;;
           *)   AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --python) ;;
         esac
     ],
     [
         enable_python=yes
     ])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_python])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(PYTHON_INTERFACE, [test "$enable_python" = "yes"])
 if test "$enable_python" = "yes"; then
 	enable_shared="yes"
-    # check for boost
+    # get the version of installed python
     AX_PYTHON
     if test "$ax_python_bin" = "no"; then
         AC_MSG_ERROR(python binary not found)
     fi
+    py_ver=`echo $ax_python_bin | cut -c7-`
+    # find the flags for that version
+    AC_PYTHON_DEVEL([$py_ver])
+    PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR=`echo $python_path | cut -c3-`
+    AC_SUBST([PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR])
+    # do we have boost python
     AX_BOOST_PYTHON
     if test "$ac_cv_boost_python" = "no"; then
         AC_MSG_ERROR(boost python not found)
     fi
     AC_SUBST(PYTHON_VERSION, [$ax_python_bin])
 fi
 
 
 
 AC_OUTPUT(                  \
     Makefile                \
     debian/Makefile         \
     html/Makefile           \
     libpst.pc               \
     libpst.spec             \
     man/Makefile            \
     src/Makefile            \
     src/pst2dii.cpp         \
     python/Makefile         \
     xml/Makefile            \
     xml/libpst              \
     )
diff --git a/m4/ac_python_devel.m4 b/m4/ac_python_devel.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3b8498
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/ac_python_devel.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,322 @@
+# ===========================================================================
+#         http://www.nongnu.org/autoconf-archive/ac_python_devel.html
+# ===========================================================================
+#
+# SYNOPSIS
+#
+#   AC_PYTHON_DEVEL([version])
+#
+# DESCRIPTION
+#
+#   Note: Defines as a precious variable "PYTHON_VERSION". Don't override it
+#   in your configure.ac.
+#
+#   This macro checks for Python and tries to get the include path to
+#   'Python.h'. It provides the $(PYTHON_CPPFLAGS) and $(PYTHON_LDFLAGS)
+#   output variables. It also exports $(PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS) and
+#   $(PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS) for embedding Python in your code.
+#
+#   You can search for some particular version of Python by passing a
+#   parameter to this macro, for example ">= '2.3.1'", or "== '2.4'". Please
+#   note that you *have* to pass also an operator along with the version to
+#   match, and pay special attention to the single quotes surrounding the
+#   version number. Don't use "PYTHON_VERSION" for this: that environment
+#   variable is declared as precious and thus reserved for the end-user.
+#
+#   This macro should work for all versions of Python >= 2.1.0. As an end
+#   user, you can disable the check for the python version by setting the
+#   PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK environment variable to something else than the
+#   empty string.
+#
+#   If you need to use this macro for an older Python version, please
+#   contact the authors. We're always open for feedback.
+#
+# LICENSE
+#
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Sebastian Huber <sebastian-huber@web.de>
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Alan W. Irwin <irwin@beluga.phys.uvic.ca>
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Rafael Laboissiere <rafael@laboissiere.net>
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Andrew Collier <colliera@ukzn.ac.za>
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Matteo Settenvini <matteo@member.fsf.org>
+#   Copyright (c) 2009 Horst Knorr <hk_classes@knoda.org>
+#
+#   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+#   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+#   Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your
+#   option) any later version.
+#
+#   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+#   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
+#   Public License for more details.
+#
+#   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+#   with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#   As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro's copyright owner
+#   gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure
+#   scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You
+#   need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using
+#   or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the
+#   Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern
+#   all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
+#
+#   This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf
+#   Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a
+#   modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special
+#   exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
+
+AC_DEFUN([AC_PYTHON_DEVEL],[
+	#
+	# Allow the use of a (user set) custom python version
+	#
+	AC_ARG_VAR([PYTHON_VERSION],[The installed Python
+		version to use, for example '2.3'. This string
+		will be appended to the Python interpreter
+		canonical name.])
+
+	AC_PATH_PROG([PYTHON],[python[$PYTHON_VERSION]])
+	if test -z "$PYTHON"; then
+	   AC_MSG_ERROR([Cannot find python$PYTHON_VERSION in your system path])
+	   PYTHON_VERSION=""
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# Check for a version of Python >= 2.1.0
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for a version of Python >= '2.1.0'])
+	ac_supports_python_ver=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
+		ver = sys.version.split ()[[0]]; \
+		print (ver >= '2.1.0')"`
+	if test "$ac_supports_python_ver" != "True"; then
+		if test -z "$PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK"; then
+			AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+			AC_MSG_FAILURE([
+This version of the AC@&t@_PYTHON_DEVEL macro
+doesn't work properly with versions of Python before
+2.1.0. You may need to re-run configure, setting the
+variables PYTHON_CPPFLAGS, PYTHON_LDFLAGS, PYTHON_SITE_PKG,
+PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS and PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS by hand.
+Moreover, to disable this check, set PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK
+to something else than an empty string.
+])
+		else
+			AC_MSG_RESULT([skip at user request])
+		fi
+	else
+		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# if the macro parameter ``version'' is set, honour it
+	#
+	if test -n "$1"; then
+		AC_MSG_CHECKING([for a version of Python $1])
+		ac_supports_python_ver=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
+			ver = sys.version.split ()[[0]]; \
+			print (ver >= $1)"`
+		if test "$ac_supports_python_ver" = "True"; then
+	   	   AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+		else
+			AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+			AC_MSG_ERROR([this package requires Python $1.
+If you have it installed, but it isn't the default Python
+interpreter in your system path, please pass the PYTHON_VERSION
+variable to configure. See ``configure --help'' for reference.
+])
+			PYTHON_VERSION=""
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# Check if you have distutils, else fail
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for the distutils Python package])
+	ac_distutils_result=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils" 2>&1`
+	if test -z "$ac_distutils_result"; then
+		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+	else
+		AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+		AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot import Python module "distutils".
+Please check your Python installation. The error was:
+$ac_distutils_result])
+		PYTHON_VERSION=""
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# Check for Python include path
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python include path])
+	if test -z "$PYTHON_CPPFLAGS"; then
+		python_path=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+           		print (distutils.sysconfig.get_python_inc ());"`
+		if test -n "${python_path}"; then
+		   	python_path="-I$python_path"
+		fi
+		PYTHON_CPPFLAGS=$python_path
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_CPPFLAGS])
+	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_CPPFLAGS])
+
+	#
+	# Check for Python library path
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python library path])
+	if test -z "$PYTHON_LDFLAGS"; then
+		# (makes two attempts to ensure we've got a version number
+		# from the interpreter)
+		ac_python_version=`cat<<EOD | $PYTHON -
+
+# join all versioning strings, on some systems
+# major/minor numbers could be in different list elements
+from distutils.sysconfig import *
+ret = ''
+for e in get_config_vars ('VERSION'):
+	if (e != None):
+		ret += e
+print (ret)
+EOD`
+
+		if test -z "$ac_python_version"; then
+			if test -n "$PYTHON_VERSION"; then
+				ac_python_version=$PYTHON_VERSION
+			else
+				ac_python_version=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
+					print (sys.version[[:3]])"`
+			fi
+		fi
+
+		# Make the versioning information available to the compiler
+		AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_PYTHON], ["$ac_python_version"],
+                                   [If available, contains the Python version number currently in use.])
+
+		# First, the library directory:
+		ac_python_libdir=`cat<<EOD | $PYTHON -
+
+# There should be only one
+import distutils.sysconfig
+for e in distutils.sysconfig.get_config_vars ('LIBDIR'):
+	if e != None:
+		print (e)
+		break
+EOD`
+
+		# Before checking for libpythonX.Y, we need to know
+		# the extension the OS we're on uses for libraries
+		# (we take the first one, if there's more than one fix me!):
+		ac_python_soext=`$PYTHON -c \
+		  "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+		  print (distutils.sysconfig.get_config_vars('SO')[[0]])"`
+
+		# Now, for the library:
+		ac_python_soname=`$PYTHON -c \
+		  "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+		  print (distutils.sysconfig.get_config_vars('LDLIBRARY')[[0]])"`
+
+		# Strip away extension from the end to canonicalize its name:
+		ac_python_library=`echo "$ac_python_soname" | sed "s/${ac_python_soext}$//"`
+
+		# This small piece shamelessly adapted from PostgreSQL python macro;
+		# credits goes to momjian, I think. I'd like to put the right name
+		# in the credits, if someone can point me in the right direction... ?
+		#
+		if test -n "$ac_python_libdir" -a -n "$ac_python_library" \
+			-a x"$ac_python_library" != x"$ac_python_soname"
+		then
+			# use the official shared library
+			ac_python_library=`echo "$ac_python_library" | sed "s/^lib//"`
+			PYTHON_LDFLAGS="-L$ac_python_libdir -l$ac_python_library"
+		else
+			# old way: use libpython from python_configdir
+			ac_python_libdir=`$PYTHON -c \
+			  "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib as f; \
+			  import os; \
+			  print (os.path.join(f(plat_specific=1, standard_lib=1), 'config'));"`
+			PYTHON_LDFLAGS="-L$ac_python_libdir -lpython$ac_python_version"
+		fi
+
+		if test -z "PYTHON_LDFLAGS"; then
+			AC_MSG_ERROR([
+  Cannot determine location of your Python DSO. Please check it was installed with
+  dynamic libraries enabled, or try setting PYTHON_LDFLAGS by hand.
+			])
+		fi
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_LDFLAGS])
+	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_LDFLAGS])
+
+	#
+	# Check for site packages
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python site-packages path])
+	if test -z "$PYTHON_SITE_PKG"; then
+		PYTHON_SITE_PKG=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+		        print (distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(0,0));"`
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_SITE_PKG])
+	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_SITE_PKG])
+
+	#
+	# libraries which must be linked in when embedding
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING(python extra libraries)
+	if test -z "$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS"; then
+	   PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+                conf = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var; \
+                print (conf('LOCALMODLIBS') + ' ' + conf('LIBS'))"`
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS])
+	AC_SUBST(PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS)
+
+	#
+	# linking flags needed when embedding
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING(python extra linking flags)
+	if test -z "$PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS"; then
+		PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
+			conf = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var; \
+			print (conf('LINKFORSHARED'))"`
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS])
+	AC_SUBST(PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
+
+	#
+	# final check to see if everything compiles alright
+	#
+	AC_MSG_CHECKING([consistency of all components of python development environment])
+	# save current global flags
+	ac_save_LIBS="$LIBS"
+	ac_save_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
+	LIBS="$ac_save_LIBS $PYTHON_LDFLAGS $PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS $PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS"
+	CPPFLAGS="$ac_save_CPPFLAGS $PYTHON_CPPFLAGS"
+	AC_LANG_PUSH([C])
+	AC_LINK_IFELSE([
+		AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <Python.h>]],
+				[[Py_Initialize();]])
+		],[pythonexists=yes],[pythonexists=no])
+	AC_LANG_POP([C])
+	# turn back to default flags
+	CPPFLAGS="$ac_save_CPPFLAGS"
+	LIBS="$ac_save_LIBS"
+
+	AC_MSG_RESULT([$pythonexists])
+
+        if test ! "x$pythonexists" = "xyes"; then
+	   AC_MSG_FAILURE([
+  Could not link test program to Python. Maybe the main Python library has been
+  installed in some non-standard library path. If so, pass it to configure,
+  via the LDFLAGS environment variable.
+  Example: ./configure LDFLAGS="-L/usr/non-standard-path/python/lib"
+  ============================================================================
+   ERROR!
+   You probably have to install the development version of the Python package
+   for your distribution.  The exact name of this package varies among them.
+  ============================================================================
+	   ])
+	  PYTHON_VERSION=""
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# all done!
+	#
+])
diff --git a/m4/ax_python.m4 b/m4/ax_python.m4
index 392fa9a..17975e0 100644
--- a/m4/ax_python.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_python.m4
@@ -1,99 +1,95 @@
 # ===========================================================================
 #               http://autoconf-archive.cryp.to/ax_python.html
 # ===========================================================================
 #
 # SYNOPSIS
 #
 #   AX_PYTHON
 #
 # DESCRIPTION
 #
 #   This macro does a complete Python development environment check.
 #
 #   It recurses through several python versions (from 2.1 to 2.5 in this
 #   version), looking for an executable. When it finds an executable, it
 #   looks to find the header files and library.
 #
 #   It sets PYTHON_BIN to the name of the python executable,
 #   PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR to the directory holding the header files, and
 #   PYTHON_LIB to the name of the Python library.
 #
 #   This macro calls AC_SUBST on PYTHON_BIN (via AC_CHECK_PROG),
 #   PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR and PYTHON_LIB.
 #
 # LAST MODIFICATION
 #
 #   2008-04-12
 #
 # COPYLEFT
 #
 #   Copyright (c) 2008 Michael Tindal
 #
 #   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 #   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
 #   Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
 #   option) any later version.
 #
 #   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 #   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 #   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
 #   Public License for more details.
 #
 #   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
 #   with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
 #   As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro's copyright owner
 #   gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure
 #   scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You
 #   need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using
 #   or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the
 #   Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern
 #   all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
 #
 #   This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf
 #   Macro released by the Autoconf Macro Archive. When you make and
 #   distribute a modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this
 #   special exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
 
 AC_DEFUN([AX_PYTHON],
-[AC_MSG_CHECKING(for python build information)
+[
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(for python build information)
 AC_MSG_RESULT([])
 for python in python2.6 python2.5 python2.4 python2.3 python2.2 python2.1 python; do
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(PYTHON_BIN, [$python])
     ax_python_bin=$PYTHON_BIN
     if test x$ax_python_bin != x; then
         AC_CHECK_LIB($ax_python_bin, main, ax_python_lib=$ax_python_bin, ax_python_lib=no)
         AC_CHECK_HEADER([$ax_python_bin/Python.h],
-                        [[ax_python_header=$includedir/$ax_python_bin]],
+                        ax_python_header=yes,
                         ax_python_header=no)
         if test $ax_python_lib != no; then
             if test $ax_python_header != no; then
                 break;
             fi
         fi
     fi
 done
 if test x$ax_python_bin = x; then
    ax_python_bin=no
 fi
 if test x$ax_python_header = x; then
    ax_python_header=no
 fi
 if test x$ax_python_lib = x; then
    ax_python_lib=no
 fi
 
 AC_MSG_RESULT([  results of the Python check:])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([    Binary:      $ax_python_bin])
 AC_MSG_RESULT([    Library:     $ax_python_lib])
-AC_MSG_RESULT([    Include Dir: $ax_python_header])
 
-if test x$ax_python_header != xno; then
-  PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR=$ax_python_header
-  AC_SUBST(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR)
-fi
 if test x$ax_python_lib != xno; then
   PYTHON_LIB=$ax_python_lib
   AC_SUBST(PYTHON_LIB)
 fi
 ])dnl