diff -uNr liferea-1.8.6.orig/configure.ac liferea-1.8.6/configure.ac
--- liferea-1.8.6.orig/configure.ac	2012-06-15 14:19:23.000000000 +0200
+++ liferea-1.8.6/configure.ac	2012-06-23 16:47:14.433609516 +0200
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
 
 AC_PREREQ(2.59)
 
+# automake 1.12 seems to require this, but automake 1.11 doesn't recognize it
+m4_pattern_allow([AM_PROG_AR])
+AM_PROG_AR
+
 LT_INIT
 IT_PROG_INTLTOOL([0.35.0])