diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 22cecb6efc..e54b88957a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -656,13 +656,15 @@ AC_SUBST(NM_CONFIG_DEFAULT_MAIN_AUTH_POLKIT_TEXT, "$enable_polkit")
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(POLKIT, [polkit-agent-1 >= 0.97], [have_pk_agent=yes],[have_pk_agent=no])
 if test x"$have_pk_agent" = x"no"; then
-	AC_MSG_ERROR(Polkit agent is required)
+	POLKIT_PACKAGE_PREFIX="/usr"
+else
+	POLKIT_PACKAGE_PREFIX=`$PKG_CONFIG --variable=prefix polkit-agent-1`
 fi
-POLKIT_PACKAGE_PREFIX=`$PKG_CONFIG --variable=prefix polkit-agent-1`
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([POLKIT_PACKAGE_PREFIX],
                    ["$POLKIT_PACKAGE_PREFIX"],
                    [polkit-agent package prefix])
 
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(modify-system, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-modify-system], [Allow users to modify system connections]))
 if test "${enable_modify_system}" = "yes"; then
 	NM_MODIFY_SYSTEM_POLICY="yes"