diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 68c0bc14..624f76b3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,17 +7,18 @@ Makefile
 Makefile.in
 
 # Exact wildcard, e.g., not in subdirs.
-/*.m4
 /doc/*.1
 /doc/*.5
 /doc/*/*.1
 /doc/*/*.5
 /nls/*/*.cat
 /nls/*/generated-*.m
+/m4/*.m4
 
 # Exact match, if a directory then everything in directory.
 /aclocal.m4
 /autom4te.cache/
+/build-aux/
 /config.h
 /config.h.in
 /config.log
@@ -26,10 +27,6 @@ Makefile.in
 /data/apps
 /data/init
 /data/menu
-/depcomp
-/install-sh
-/ltmain.sh
-/missing
 /src/FbTk/libFbTk.a
 /src/defaults.cc
 /src/defaults.hh
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 136824fc..c98336be 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 SUBDIRS = doc nls src util data
 MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = aclocal.m4 config.h.in configure Makefile.in stamp-h.in
-ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I .
+ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 EXTRA_DIST = acinclude.m4 $(top_srcdir)/3rd/vim/* $(top_srcdir)/3rd/vim/syntax/*
 
 uninstall-hook:
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index deabd5f1..4831e1a9 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ dothis() {
 
 libtoolize --copy --force --automake
 rm -f config.cache
-dothis aclocal -I . ${ACLOCAL_FLAGS}
+dothis aclocal -I m4 ${ACLOCAL_FLAGS}
 dothis autoheader
 dothis automake -a -c
 dothis autoconf
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e7b34efd..a7841b52 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ AC_INIT([fluxbox],
 	[fluxbox-devel@lists.sourceforge.net],,
 	[http://fluxbox.org/])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/fluxbox.cc])
+AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
+AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign 1.10 tar-pax dist-bzip2 subdir-objects])
 
diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/m4/acinclude.m4
similarity index 100%
rename from acinclude.m4
rename to m4/acinclude.m4