diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f939bea19d..3750127ea4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -990,6 +990,22 @@ AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <malloc.h>]],
  [ AC_MSG_RESULT(no)]
 )
 
+dnl Check for posix_fallocate
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(for posix_fallocate)
+AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[
+                   // same as in src/util/system.cpp
+                   #ifdef __linux__
+                   #ifdef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
+                   #undef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
+                   #endif
+                   #define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200112L
+                   #endif // __linux__
+                   #include <fcntl.h>]],
+                   [[ int f = posix_fallocate(0, 0, 0); ]])],
+ [ AC_MSG_RESULT(yes); AC_DEFINE(HAVE_POSIX_FALLOCATE, 1,[Define this symbol if you have posix_fallocate]) ],
+ [ AC_MSG_RESULT(no)]
+)
+
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for visibility attribute])
 AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([
   int foo_def( void ) __attribute__((visibility("default")));
diff --git a/src/util/system.cpp b/src/util/system.cpp
index 5f89f694b8..3c3dea4c53 100644
--- a/src/util/system.cpp
+++ b/src/util/system.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #ifndef WIN32
-// for posix_fallocate
+// for posix_fallocate, in configure.ac we check if it is present after this
 #ifdef __linux__
 
 #ifdef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
@@ -1170,7 +1170,7 @@ void AllocateFileRange(FILE *file, unsigned int offset, unsigned int length) {
     }
     ftruncate(fileno(file), static_cast<off_t>(offset) + length);
 #else
-    #if defined(__linux__)
+    #if defined(HAVE_POSIX_FALLOCATE)
     // Version using posix_fallocate
     off_t nEndPos = (off_t)offset + length;
     if (0 == posix_fallocate(fileno(file), 0, nEndPos)) return;