diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 3dc10e57..63587b5d 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2011-08-30  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
+
+	* configure.ac: In AC_CHECK_LIB for libftdi, check for
+	ftdi_usb_get_strings() rathern than ftdi_init(), as this is a more
+	specific thing to search for in order to make sure getting a
+	recent enough libftdi.
+
 2011-08-29  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
 
 	bug #34027: avrdude AT90S1200 Problem (part 1 - bitbang
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 58aa8cc4..d32a053e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fi
 AC_SUBST(LIBUSB_1_0, $LIBUSB_1_0)
 AH_TEMPLATE([HAVE_LIBFTDI],
             [Define if FTDI support is enabled via libftdi])
-AC_CHECK_LIB([ftdi], [ftdi_init], [have_libftdi=yes], [], [-lusb])
+AC_CHECK_LIB([ftdi], [ftdi_usb_get_strings], [have_libftdi=yes], [], [-lusb])
 if test x$have_libftdi = xyes; then
    LIBFTDI="-lftdi -lusb"
    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBFTDI])