diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 18c54a2..b8c87ea 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ BINARY_LDFLAGS="$PIE_LDFLAGS $RELRO_LDFLAGS"
 BINARY_CFLAGS="$PIE_CFLAGS"
 AC_SUBST(LIBDOVECOT_INCLUDE)
 
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(XAPIAN, xapian-core > 1.4.0,, [XAPIAN_LIBS="-lxapian"])
+XO_LIB_XAPIAN
+XO_REQUIRE([1.4.0], AC_MSG_ERROR([Xapian version 1.4.0 or better required]),)
+
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(ICU, icu-uc)
 
 if test "$DOVECOT_INSTALLED" != "yes"; then
diff --git a/m4/xapian.m4 b/m4/xapian.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abc9735
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/xapian.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+# Get XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS, XAPIAN_LIBS, and XAPIAN_VERSION from xapian-config and
+# AC_SUBST() them.
+
+# serial 17
+
+# AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE(MACRO-NAME, IF-PROVIDED, IF-NOT-PROVIDED)
+# -----------------------------------------------------------
+# If this macro is not defined by Autoconf, define it here.
+m4_ifdef([AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE],
+	 [],
+	 [m4_define([AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE],
+		 [m4_ifdef([AC_PROVIDE_$1],
+			   [$2], [$3])])])
+
+# XO_LIB_XAPIAN([ACTION-IF-FOUND [, ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND[ ,XAPIAN-CONFIG]]])
+# --------------------------------------------------------
+# AC_SUBST-s XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS, XAPIAN_LIBS, and XAPIAN_VERSION for use in
+# Makefile.am
+#
+# If ACTION-IF-FOUND and ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND are both unset, then an
+# appropriate AC_MSG_ERROR is used as a default ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.
+# This allows XO_LIB_XAPIAN to be used without any arguments in the
+# common case where Xapian is a requirement (rather than optional).
+#
+# XAPIAN-CONFIG provides the default name for the xapian-config script
+# (which the user can override with "./configure XAPIAN_CONFIG=/path/to/it").
+# If unset, the default is xapian-config.  Support for this third parameter
+# was added in Xapian 1.1.3.
+AC_DEFUN([XO_LIB_XAPIAN],
+[
+  AC_ARG_VAR(XAPIAN_CONFIG, [Location of xapian-config (default:] ifelse([$3], [], xapian-config, [$3]) [on PATH)])
+  dnl AC_PATH_PROG ignores an existing user setting of XAPIAN_CONFIG unless it
+  dnl has a full path, so add special handling for such cases.
+  xapian_config_to_check_for="ifelse([$3], [], xapian-config, [$3])"
+  case $XAPIAN_CONFIG in
+  "") ;;
+  */configure)
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([XAPIAN_CONFIG should point to a xapian-config script, not a configure script.])
+    ;;
+  [[\\/]* | ?:[\\/]*)]
+    # XAPIAN_CONFIG has an absolute path, so AC_PATH_PROG can handle it.
+    ;;
+  [*[\\/]?*)]
+    # Convert a relative path to an absolute one.
+    XAPIAN_CONFIG=`pwd`/$XAPIAN_CONFIG
+    ;;
+  *)
+    # If there's no path on XAPIAN_CONFIG, use it as the name of the tool to
+    # search PATH for, so that things like this work:
+    #   ./configure XAPIAN_CONFIG=xapian-config-1.3
+    xapian_config_to_check_for=$XAPIAN_CONFIG
+    XAPIAN_CONFIG=
+    ;;
+  esac
+  AC_PATH_PROG(XAPIAN_CONFIG, "$xapian_config_to_check_for")
+  if test -z "$XAPIAN_CONFIG"; then
+    ifelse([$2], ,
+      [ifelse([$1], , [
+	dnl Simple check to see if the problem is likely to
+	dnl be that we're using a "packaged" xapian-core but
+	dnl only have the runtime package installed.
+	for sfx in '' 32 64 ; do
+	  set /usr/lib$sfx/libxapian.so.*
+	  if test "/usr/lib$sfx/libxapian.so.*" != "$1" ; then
+	    if test -r /etc/debian_version ; then
+	      pkg="libxapian-dev"
+	    else
+	      pkg="xapian-core-devel"
+	    fi
+	    AC_MSG_ERROR([Can't find xapian-config, although the xapian-core runtime library seems to be installed.  If you've installed xapian-core from a package, you probably need to install an extra package called something like $pkg in order to be able to build code using the Xapian library.])
+	  fi
+	done
+	AC_MSG_ERROR([Can't find xapian-config.  If you have installed the Xapian library, you need to add XAPIAN_CONFIG=/path/to/xapian-config to your configure command.])],
+	:)],
+      [$2])
+  else
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING([$XAPIAN_CONFIG works])
+    dnl check for --ltlibs but not --libs as "xapian-config --libs" will
+    dnl fail if xapian isn't installed...
+
+    dnl run with exec to avoid leaking output on "real" bourne shells
+    if (exec >&5 2>&5 ; $XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs --cxxflags; exit $?) then
+      AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+    else
+      case $? in
+      127)
+	AC_MSG_ERROR(['$XAPIAN_CONFIG' not found, aborting])
+	;;
+      126)
+	if test -d "$XAPIAN_CONFIG" ; then
+	  AC_MSG_ERROR(['$XAPIAN_CONFIG' is a directory; it should be the filename of the xapian-config script])
+	fi
+	AC_MSG_ERROR(['$XAPIAN_CONFIG' not executable, aborting])
+	;;
+      esac
+      AC_MSG_ERROR(['$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs --cxxflags' doesn't work, aborting])
+    fi
+
+dnl If LT_INIT, AC_PROG_LIBTOOL or the deprecated older version
+dnl AM_PROG_LIBTOOL has already been expanded, enable libtool support now.
+dnl Otherwise add hooks to the end of LT_INIT, AC_PROG_LIBTOOL and
+dnl AM_PROG_LIBTOOL to enable it if one of these is expanded later.
+    XAPIAN_VERSION=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --version|sed 's/.* //;s/_.*$//'`
+    XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --cxxflags`
+    AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE([LT_INIT],
+      [XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`],
+      [AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE([AC_PROG_LIBTOOL],
+	[XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`],
+	[AC_PROVIDE_IFELSE([AM_PROG_LIBTOOL],
+	  [XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`],
+	  dnl Pass magic option so xapian-config knows we called it (so it
+	  dnl can choose a more appropriate error message if asked to link
+	  dnl with an uninstalled libxapian).  Also pass ac_top_srcdir
+	  dnl so the error message can correctly say "configure.ac" or
+	  dnl "configure.in" according to which is in use.
+	  [XAPIAN_LIBS=`ac_top_srcdir="$ac_top_srcdir" $XAPIAN_CONFIG --from-xo-lib-xapian --libs`
+	  m4_ifdef([LT_INIT],
+	    [m4_define([LT_INIT], m4_defn([LT_INIT])
+		   [XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`])])
+	  m4_ifdef([AC_PROG_LIBTOOL],
+	    [m4_define([AC_PROG_LIBTOOL], m4_defn([AC_PROG_LIBTOOL])
+		 [XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`])])
+	  m4_ifdef([AM_PROG_LIBTOOL],
+	    [m4_define([AM_PROG_LIBTOOL], m4_defn([AM_PROG_LIBTOOL])
+		 [XAPIAN_LIBS=`$XAPIAN_CONFIG --ltlibs`])])])])])
+    ifelse([$1], , :, [$1])
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST(XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS)
+  AC_SUBST(XAPIAN_LIBS)
+  AC_SUBST(XAPIAN_VERSION)
+  m4_define([XO_LIB_XAPIAN_EXPANDED_], [])
+])
+
+# XO_REQUIRE(VERSION[, ACTION-IF-LESS-THAN[, ACTION-IF-GREATHER-THAN-OR-EQUAL]])
+# --------------------------------------------------------
+# Check if $XAPIAN_VERSION is at least VERSION.  This macro should
+# be used after XO_LIB_XAPIAN.
+#
+# If ACTION-IF-LESS-THAN is unset, it defaults to an
+# appropriate AC_MSG_ERROR saying that Xapian >= VERSION is needed.
+#
+# If ACTION-IF-GREATHER-THAN-OR-EQUAL is unset, the default is no
+# addtional action.
+AC_DEFUN([XO_REQUIRE],
+[
+  m4_ifndef([XO_LIB_XAPIAN_EXPANDED_],
+      [m4_fatal([XO_REQUIRE can only be used after XO_LIB_XAPIAN])])
+dnl [Version component '$v' is not a number]
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([if $XAPIAN_CONFIG version >= $1])
+  old_IFS=$IFS
+  IFS=.
+  set x `echo "$XAPIAN_VERSION"|sed 's/_.*//'`
+  IFS=$old_IFS
+  res=
+  m4_foreach([min_component], m4_split([$1], [\.]), [
+ifelse(regexp(min_component, [^[0-9][0-9]*$]), [-1], [m4_fatal(Component `min_component' not numeric)])dnl
+  if test -z "$res" ; then
+    shift
+    if test "$[]1" -gt 'min_component' ; then
+      res=1
+    elif test "$[]1" -lt 'min_component' ; then
+      res=0
+    fi
+  fi])
+  if test "$res" = 0 ; then
+    AC_MSG_RESULT([no ($XAPIAN_VERSION)])
+    m4_default([$2], [AC_ERROR([XAPIAN_VERSION is $XAPIAN_VERSION, but >= $1 required])])
+  else
+    AC_MSG_RESULT([yes ($XAPIAN_VERSION)])
+    $3
+  fi
+])
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 17e8e6f..cd2f231 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	$(LIBDOVECOT_STORAGE_INCLUDE) \
 	$(LIBDOVECOT_DOVEADM_INCLUDE) \
 	$(LIBDOVECOT_LIBFTS_INCLUDE) \
-	$(LIBDOVECOT_FTS_INCLUDE)
+	$(LIBDOVECOT_FTS_INCLUDE) \
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = \
-	$(AM_CPPFLAGS) 
+	$(AM_CPPFLAGS) \
+	$(XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS)
 
 lib21_fts_xapian_plugin_la_LDFLAGS = -module -avoid-version