diff -r 067699edef86 configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac	Tue Aug 07 13:34:22 2012 -0700
+++ b/configure.ac	Tue Aug 07 18:14:04 2012 -0700
@@ -2058,6 +2058,8 @@
 OCTAVE_PROG_GPERF
 
 OCTAVE_PROG_GHOSTSCRIPT
+## Check for makeinfo.  Bug #36903
+OCTAVE_PROG_MAKEINFO
 OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2DVI
 OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2PDF
 
diff -r 067699edef86 m4/acinclude.m4
--- a/m4/acinclude.m4	Tue Aug 07 13:34:22 2012 -0700
+++ b/m4/acinclude.m4	Tue Aug 07 18:14:04 2012 -0700
@@ -685,6 +685,19 @@
   AC_SUBST(GHOSTSCRIPT)
 ])
 dnl
+dnl Find makeinfo required for reading documentation
+dnl
+dnl OCTAVE_PROG_MAKEINFO
+AC_DEFUN([OCTAVE_PROG_MAKEINFO],
+dnl use MKINFO, not MAKEINFO, for variable name because Automake automatically
+dnl defines a value for MAKEINFO even when it does not exist which will then
+dnl fool the 'test -z' line.
+  [AC_CHECK_PROG(MKINFO, makeinfo, makeinfo, [])
+   if test -z "$MKINFO"; then
+     AC_MSG_ERROR([makeinfo program required for reading documentation])
+   fi
+])
+dnl
 dnl Is texi2dvi installed?
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2DVI