diff --git a/macros/ac_python_devel.m4 b/macros/ac_python_devel.m4
index e8f40b272..261040511 100644
--- a/macros/ac_python_devel.m4
+++ b/macros/ac_python_devel.m4
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ EOD`
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS"; then
 	   PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
                 conf = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var; \
-                conf('LIBS'))"`
+                print (conf('LIBS'))"`
 	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS])
 	AC_SUBST(PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS)