diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index e4ddf851e..d46b3be3d 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -60,6 +60,21 @@ case ${GNULIB_SRCDIR--} in
   ;;
 esac
 
+ls po/*.po 2>/dev/null | sed 's|.*/||; s|\.po$||' > po/LINGUAS
+
+# Create gettext configuration.
+echo "$0: Creating po/Makevars from po/Makevars.template ..."
+rm -f po/Makevars
+sed '
+  /^EXTRA_LOCALE_CATEGORIES *=/s/=.*/= '"$EXTRA_LOCALE_CATEGORIES"'/
+  /^MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS *=/s/=.*/= '"$MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS"'/
+  /^XGETTEXT_OPTIONS *=/{
+    s/$/ \\/
+    a\
+        '"$XGETTEXT_OPTIONS"' $${end_of_xgettext_options+}
+  }
+' po/Makevars.template >po/Makevars
+
 gnulib_tool=$GNULIB_SRCDIR/gnulib-tool
 <$gnulib_tool || exit