diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 284696564a..ef511b45eb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -878,6 +878,18 @@ EOF
                           ])],
         [AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])],
         [AC_MSG_ERROR([missing EVP entry for SHA-2])])
+    dnl Check HMAC API
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING([HMAC functions returning ints])
+    AC_LINK_IFELSE(
+         [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([#include <openssl/hmac.h>],
+                          [HMAC_CTX ctx, tmp;
+                           int n = HMAC_Init(&ctx, NULL, 0, NULL);
+                           n += HMAC_Update(&ctx, NULL, 0);
+                           n += HMAC_CTX_copy(&tmp, &ctx);
+                           n += HMAC_Final(&tmp, NULL, NULL);
+                           ])],
+         [AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])],
+         [AC_MSG_ERROR([HMAC functions return void: the OpenSSL version should be too old, please change for >= 1.0.0])])
     LIBS=${LIBS_SAVED}
     CPPFLAGS=${CPPFLAGS_SAVED}
 fi