diff --git a/daemon/configure.ac b/daemon/configure.ac
index bd8dc2c2110d037c9bd639b89baa4105878bd255..d90ca92b748cfc72259e5e4157ef71a7e3e5a5c0 100644
--- a/daemon/configure.ac
+++ b/daemon/configure.ac
@@ -366,9 +366,7 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([sdes],
     [],
     [with_sdes=yes])
 AS_IF([test "x$with_sdes" = "xyes"], [
-    AX_PATH_LIB_PCRE
-        ]);
-
+      PKG_CHECK_MODULES(PCRE, [libpcre],,AC_MSG_ERROR([libpcre not found]))]);
 
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_SDES], `if test "x$with_sdes" = "xyes"; then echo 1; else echo 0; fi`, [Define if you have sdes support])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(BUILD_SDES, test "x$with_sdes" = "xyes" )
diff --git a/daemon/m4/ax_path_lib_pcre.m4 b/daemon/m4/ax_path_lib_pcre.m4
deleted file mode 100644
index 926e69d272d8288761c21163a96121f9e3691b0d..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/daemon/m4/ax_path_lib_pcre.m4
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,90 +0,0 @@
-# ===========================================================================
-#     http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/ax_path_lib_pcre.html
-# ===========================================================================
-#
-# SYNOPSIS
-#
-#   AX_PATH_LIB_PCRE [(A/NA)]
-#
-# DESCRIPTION
-#
-#   check for pcre lib and set PCRE_LIBS and PCRE_CFLAGS accordingly.
-#
-#   also provide --with-pcre option that may point to the $prefix of the
-#   pcre installation - the macro will check $pcre/include and $pcre/lib to
-#   contain the necessary files.
-#
-#   the usual two ACTION-IF-FOUND / ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND are supported and
-#   they can take advantage of the LIBS/CFLAGS additions.
-#
-# LICENSE
-#
-#   Copyright (c) 2008 Guido U. Draheim <guidod@gmx.de>
-#
-#   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
-#   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
-#   Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your
-#   option) any later version.
-#
-#   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
-#   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-#   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
-#   Public License for more details.
-#
-#   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
-#   with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-#
-#   As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro's copyright owner
-#   gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure
-#   scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You
-#   need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using
-#   or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the
-#   Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern
-#   all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
-#
-#   This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf
-#   Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a
-#   modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special
-#   exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
-
-#serial 7
-
-AC_DEFUN([AX_PATH_LIB_PCRE],[dnl
-AC_MSG_CHECKING([lib pcre])
-AC_ARG_WITH(pcre,
-[  --with-pcre[[=prefix]]    compile xmlpcre part (via libpcre check)],,
-     with_pcre="yes")
-if test ".$with_pcre" = ".no" ; then
-  AC_MSG_RESULT([disabled])
-  m4_ifval($2,$2)
-else
-  AC_MSG_RESULT([(testing)])
-  AC_CHECK_LIB(pcre, pcre_study)
-  if test "$ac_cv_lib_pcre_pcre_study" = "yes" ; then
-     PCRE_LIBS="-lpcre"
-     AC_MSG_CHECKING([lib pcre])
-     AC_MSG_RESULT([$PCRE_LIBS])
-     m4_ifval($1,$1)
-  else
-     OLDLDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS" ; LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS -L$with_pcre/lib"
-     OLDCPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS" ; CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I$with_pcre/include"
-     AC_CHECK_LIB(pcre, pcre_compile)
-     CPPFLAGS="$OLDCPPFLAGS"
-     LDFLAGS="$OLDLDFLAGS"
-     if test "$ac_cv_lib_pcre_pcre_compile" = "yes" ; then
-        AC_MSG_RESULT(.setting PCRE_LIBS -L$with_pcre/lib -lpcre)
-        PCRE_LIBS="-L$with_pcre/lib -lpcre"
-        test -d "$with_pcre/include" && PCRE_CFLAGS="-I$with_pcre/include"
-        AC_MSG_CHECKING([lib pcre])
-        AC_MSG_RESULT([$PCRE_LIBS])
-        m4_ifval($1,$1)
-     else
-        AC_MSG_CHECKING([lib pcre])
-        AC_MSG_RESULT([no, (WARNING)])
-        m4_ifval($2,$2)
-     fi
-  fi
-fi
-AC_SUBST([PCRE_LIBS])
-AC_SUBST([PCRE_CFLAGS])
-])