diff --git a/configuration/configure.ac b/configuration/configure.ac
index 09c9d5e..f951721 100644
--- a/configuration/configure.ac
+++ b/configuration/configure.ac
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@
 		[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find GNU make])])])
 AC_SUBST([MAKE], [$ac_cv_path_MAKE])
 
+dnl GNU cp is occasionally useful for the --update flag (copy only if newer).
+AC_CACHE_CHECK([for GNU cp], [ac_cv_path_GCP],
+	[AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK([GCP], [gnucp gcp cp],
+		[AS_IF([( sh -c "$ac_path_GCP --version"  2> /dev/null | grep GNU 2>&1 > /dev/null )],
+			[	ac_cv_path_GCP=$ac_path_GCP
+			   	ac_path_GCP_found=:],
+			[])],
+		[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find GNU cp])])])
+AC_SUBST([GCP], [$ac_cv_path_GCP])
+
 
 dnl
 dnl LaTeX and friends.