--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([])
 AM_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h)
 
-CFLAGS="-g -Wall -fno-exceptions"
+CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -Wall -fno-exceptions"
 CPPFLAGS=""
 DEFS=""
 
@@ -163,10 +163,8 @@
 
    dnl Extract the version using Python, check against 2.2+
 
-   changequote(<<, >>)
-   PYTHON_VERSION=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print (int(sys.version[0]) * 10 + int(sys.version[2]))'`
-   PY_VERSION=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print sys.version[0:3]'`
-   changequote([, ])
+   PYTHON_VERSION=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print (int(sys.version@<:@0@:>@) * 10 + int(sys.version@<:@2@:>@))'`
+   PY_VERSION=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print sys.version@<:@0:3@:>@'`
 
    if test $PYTHON_VERSION -lt 22; then
 	echo "Sorry, you need to have Python 2.2+ installed - update your version!"
@@ -176,9 +174,7 @@
    dnl Find the Python.h header file
 
    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for Python header files)
-   changequote(<<, >>)
-   PYINCLUDE=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print "%s/include/python%s" % (sys.prefix, sys.version[:3])'`
-   changequote([, ])
+   PYINCLUDE=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys ; print "%s/include/python%s" % (sys.prefix, sys.version@<:@:3@:>@)'`
 
    if test -r "$PYINCLUDE/Python.h"; then
       PY_CFLAGS="-I$PYINCLUDE"
@@ -191,10 +187,8 @@
    dnl Find the Python library
    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for Python library)
    PYLIB=""
-   changequote(<<, >>)
    PYPREFIX=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys; print sys.prefix'`
-   PYLIBVER=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys; print sys.version[:3]'`
-   changequote([, ])
+   PYLIBVER=`$PYPACKAGE -c 'import sys; print sys.version@<:@:3@:>@'`
 
    dnl look for a framework build of python first
    fw=`echo "$PYPREFIX" | sed 's/.*\(Python\.framework\).*/\1/;'`
@@ -233,19 +227,9 @@
    fi
    dnl Get the libraries that python depends on
 
-   AC_PATH_PROG(haveldd, ldd)
    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for Python's dependencies)
 
-   if test x$haveldd != x ; then
-       changequote(<<, >>)
-       py_deps=`ldd $PYPACKAGE | sed 's/\( *.*lib\([^\/]*\)\.so.*=.*$\)/-l\2/p; d' | grep -v 'stdc++'`
-       for py_lib in $py_deps ; do
-         if test "$py_lib" != "-lm" && test "$py_lib" != "-lc" ; then
-            PY_DEPS="$PY_DEPS $py_lib"
-         fi
-      done
-      changequote([, ])
-   fi
+   PY_DEPS="$PY_DEPS `python-config --libs` -lutil"
 
    case $target in
        *-sun-solaris*)
@@ -293,11 +277,9 @@
 if test "$P_SWIG" != "no" ; then
     $P_SWIG -version &> swig.ver
 
-    changequote(<<, >>)
-    swig_major_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* \([0-9]*\)\.[0-9]*\.[0-9]*.*/\1/p; d'`
-    swig_minor_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* [0-9]*\.\([0-9]*\)\.[0-9]*.*/\1/p; d'`
-    swig_micro_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* [0-9]*\.[0-9]*\.\([0-9]*\).*/\1/p; d'`
-    changequote([, ])
+    swig_major_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* \(@<:@0-9@:>@*\)\.@<:@0-9@:>@*\.@<:@0-9@:>@*.*/\1/p; d'`
+    swig_minor_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* @<:@0-9@:>@*\.\(@<:@0-9@:>@*\)\.@<:@0-9@:>@*.*/\1/p; d'`
+    swig_micro_ver=`more swig.ver | sed 's/.* @<:@0-9@:>@*\.@<:@0-9@:>@*\.\(@<:@0-9@:>@*\).*/\1/p; d'`
 
     rm -f swig.ver
 
@@ -387,7 +369,7 @@
 dnl Generate our compiler arguements
 dnl ********************************
 
-CXXFLAGS="$CFLAGS $DEFS $INCLUDES"
+CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS $DEFS $INCLUDES"
 
 AC_SUBST(CXX) 
 AC_SUBST(CXXFLAGS)