diff --git a/m4/virt-dbus.m4 b/m4/virt-dbus.m4
index 16cb864c9b51cee14b88851f00d22ea36d16af92..4ef0c82bb5114a2162e13a57bba9ef23ff10bb78 100644
--- a/m4/virt-dbus.m4
+++ b/m4/virt-dbus.m4
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_DBUS],[
 
   if test "$with_dbus" = "yes" ; then
     old_CFLAGS="$CFLAGS"
-    old_LIBS="$CFLAGS"
+    old_LIBS="$LIBS"
     CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $DBUS_CFLAGS"
     LIBS="$LIBS $DBUS_LIBS"
     AC_CHECK_FUNCS([dbus_watch_get_unix_fd])