diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -336,8 +336,11 @@
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR)
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_INSTALLDIR)
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([python],
+       AS_HELP_STRING([--with-python],[build Python binding]))
+
 AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_PYTHON],
-    [test "x$PYTHON" != "xno" && test "x$PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR" != "x" && test "x$PYTHON_INSTALLDIR" != "x"])
+ [test "x$PYTHON_INCLUDEDIR" != "x" -a  "x$PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES" != "x" -a "x$enable_python" = "xyes"])
 
 dnl Check for Ruby and rake (optional, for Ruby bindings).
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([ruby],