diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ca866f2a9..5f5f860a5 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ gtk_test()
   verbose gtk_test
   if runcmd pkg-config gtk+-2.0
   then
-    if runcmd expr `pkg-config --modversion gtk+-2.0` '>=' 2.6.0
+    if runcmd pkg-config --exists gtk+-2.0 '>=' 2.6.0
     then
       cat > testconf.c << EOF
       #include <gtk/gtk.h>