diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6cda0f5f..73638c53 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -632,8 +632,16 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
       # GNU Configuration specification
       # (https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Configuration.html)
       echo_warning "Option \`$arg' ignored" ;;
-   *)
+   -*)
       echo_error "Unrecognized option \`$arg'" 1;;
+   *=*)
+      echo -e "Export \`$arg' in environment" ;
+      export $arg ;;
+   *)
+      # type of system to build the program for (not needed here but useful
+      # for true autoconf configure scripts below
+      compatarglist+="$arg " ;
+      libarglist+="$arg " ;;
    esac
 done