diff --git a/m4/guestfs-progs.m4 b/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
index 151a9b656..a9fa93d25 100644
--- a/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
+++ b/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_XMLLINT],[test "x$XMLLINT" != "xno"])
 dnl po4a for translating man pages and POD files (optional).
 AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A_GETTEXTIZE],[po4a-gettextize],[po4a-gettextize],[no])
 AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A_TRANSLATE],[po4a-translate],[po4a-translate],[no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$PO4A_GETTEXTIZE" != "xno" && test "x$PO4A_TRANSLATE" != "xno"])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A_UPDATEPO],[po4a-updatepo],[po4a-updatepo],[no])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$PO4A_GETTEXTIZE" != "xno" && test "x$PO4A_TRANSLATE" != "xno" && test "x$PO4A_UPDATEPO" != "xno"])
 
 dnl Check for sqlite3 (optional).
 AC_CHECK_PROG([SQLITE3],[sqlite3],[sqlite3],[no])
diff --git a/po-docs/Makefile.am b/po-docs/Makefile.am
index 330b673f2..098e9b06b 100644
--- a/po-docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/po-docs/Makefile.am
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 SUBDIRS = $(linguas_translated)
 
 libguestfs-docs.pot:
-	cd $(top_srcdir) && $(PO4A_GETTEXTIZE) \
+	cd $(top_srcdir) && $(PO4A_UPDATEPO) \
 	  -f pod \
-	  -M utf-8 -L utf-8 \
+	  -M utf-8 \
 	  --package-name $(PACKAGE_NAME) \
 	  --package-version $(PACKAGE_VERSION) \
 	  --msgid-bugs-address guestfs@lists.libguestfs.org \