diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cdc90453c..ab4cd0667 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -444,7 +444,6 @@ Makefile.in
 /po-docs/*/*.3
 /po-docs/*/*.5
 /po-docs/*/*.8
-/po-docs/po4a.conf
 /po-docs/*/*.pod
 /podwrapper.1
 /podwrapper.pl
diff --git a/m4/guestfs-progs.m4 b/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
index c04ab8813..bf1f83c9d 100644
--- a/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
+++ b/m4/guestfs-progs.m4
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ AC_CHECK_PROG([XMLLINT],[xmllint],[xmllint],[no])
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_XMLLINT],[test "x$XMLLINT" != "xno"])
 
 dnl po4a for translating man pages and POD files (optional).
-AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A],[po4a],[po4a],[no])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$PO4A" != "xno"])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A_GETTEXTIZE],[po4a-gettextize],[po4a-gettextize],[no])
+AC_CHECK_PROG([PO4A_TRANSLATE],[po4a-translate],[po4a-translate],[no])
+AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PO4A], [test "x$PO4A_GETTEXTIZE" != "xno" && test "x$PO4A_TRANSLATE" != "xno"])
 
 dnl Check for db_dump, db_load (optional).
 GUESTFS_FIND_DB_TOOL([DB_DUMP], [dump])
diff --git a/po-docs/Makefile.am b/po-docs/Makefile.am
index 24d1a0338..aaffa0520 100644
--- a/po-docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/po-docs/Makefile.am
@@ -35,47 +35,22 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 	$(linguas_not_translated:%=%.po) \
 	podfiles
 
-CLEANFILES += po4a.conf
-
 # Build the final man pages from the translated POD files.  Each
 # language directory contains a Makefile.am that we need to keep up to
 # date (note each $lang/Makefile.am should be identical).
 # XXX Is there a better way?
 SUBDIRS = $(linguas)
 
-update-po: libguestfs-docs.pot
-
-# Note: po4a puts the following junk at the top of every POD file it
-# generates:
-#  - a warning
-#  - a probably bogus =encoding line
-# Remove both.
-# XXX Fix po4a so it doesn't do this.
-libguestfs-docs.pot: po4a.conf
-	$(PO4A) \
-	  -M utf-8 -L utf-8 -A utf-8 \
-	  -v \
-	  -k 0 \
+libguestfs-docs.pot:
+	$(PO4A_GETTEXTIZE) \
+	  -f pod \
+	  -M utf-8 -L utf-8 \
 	  --package-name $(PACKAGE_NAME) \
 	  --package-version $(PACKAGE_VERSION) \
 	  --msgid-bugs-address libguestfs@redhat.com \
 	  --copyright-holder "Red Hat Inc." \
-	  po4a.conf
-	for f in `cd $(srcdir); find $(linguas) -name '*.pod'`; do \
-	  $(SED) '0,/^=encoding/d' < $$f > $$f.new; \
-	  mv $$f.new $$f; \
-	done
-
-po4a.conf: podfiles
-	rm -f $@-t
-	echo "[po_directory] $(srcdir)" >> $@-t
-	echo >> $@-t
-	for f in `cat podfiles`; do \
-	  out=`basename -- $$f .pod`.pod; \
-	  echo "[type: pod] $$f \$$lang:\$$lang/$$out" >> $@-t; \
-	  echo >> $@-t; \
-	done;
-	mv $@-t $@
+	  -p $@ \
+	  $(patsubst %,-m %,$(shell cat $(srcdir)/podfiles))
 
 podfiles: Makefile
 	rm -f $@ $@-t
diff --git a/po-docs/language.mk b/po-docs/language.mk
index ff25a0719..354facafe 100644
--- a/po-docs/language.mk
+++ b/po-docs/language.mk
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 LINGUA = $(shell basename -- `pwd`)
 
 # Before 1.23.23, the old Perl tools were called *.pl.
-CLEANFILES += *.pl
+CLEANFILES += *.pl *.pod
 
 MANPAGES = \
 	guestfish.1 \
@@ -195,19 +195,20 @@ virt-p2v.1: virt-p2v.pod virt-p2v-kernel-config.pod
 	  --section 8 \
 	  $<
 
-# If a POD file is missing, the user needs to run make update-po.
-# This cannot be done automatically by make because it would be unsafe
-# to run po4a or update podfiles potentially in parallel.  Therefore
-# tell the user what to do and stop.
-$(podfiles):
-	@if ! test -f $@; then \
-	  echo "***"; \
-	  echo "*** You need to run the following commands:"; \
-	  echo "***     rm po-docs/podfiles; make -C po-docs update-po"; \
-	  echo "*** After that, rerun make."; \
-	  echo "***"; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	fi
+# Note: po4a puts the following junk at the top of every POD file it
+# generates:
+#  - a warning
+#  - a probably bogus =encoding line
+# Remove both.
+# XXX Fix po4a so it doesn't do this.
+%.pod: $(srcdir)/../$(LINGUA).po
+	$(guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate)$(PO4A_TRANSLATE) \
+	  -f pod \
+	  -M utf-8 -L utf-8 \
+	  -k 0 \
+	  -m $(srcdir)/../$(shell grep '/$(notdir $@)$$' $(top_srcdir)/po-docs/podfiles) \
+	  -p $< \
+	  | $(SED) '0,/^=encoding/d' > $@
 
 # XXX Can automake do this properly?
 install-data-hook:
diff --git a/subdir-rules.mk b/subdir-rules.mk
index 8532fb23a..40941a9ab 100644
--- a/subdir-rules.mk
+++ b/subdir-rules.mk
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ guestfs_am_v_podwrapper_0 = @echo "  POD     " $@;
 guestfs_am_v_jar = $(guestfs_am_v_jar_@AM_V@)
 guestfs_am_v_jar_ = $(guestfs_am_v_jar_@AM_DEFAULT_V@)
 guestfs_am_v_jar_0 = @echo "  JAR     " $@;
+guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate = $(guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate_@AM_V@)
+guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate_ = $(guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate_@AM_DEFAULT_V@)
+guestfs_am_v_po4a_translate_0 = @echo "  PO4A-T  " $@;
 
 %.cmi: %.mli
 	$(guestfs_am_v_ocamlcmi)$(OCAMLFIND) ocamlc $(OCAMLFLAGS) $(OCAMLPACKAGES) -c $< -o $@