diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index e37f2a7c..9c15af14 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -18,3 +18,9 @@ EOF
 else
   libc_cv_gcc___thread=no
 fi])
+
+AC_DEFUN([CHECK_ATOMIC_OPS],
+[dnl Check whether the system has the atomic_ops package installed.
+  AC_CHECK_HEADERS(atomic_ops.h)
+  AC_CHECK_LIB(atomic_ops, main)
+])