diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e83aba7..818b10d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -391,6 +391,10 @@
 fi
 
 AC_PROG_CC
+# AC_PROG_CC doesn't output any useful information
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([compiler version])
+CC_version=$($CC --version | head -n1)
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$CC_version])
 AC_PROG_CPP
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_LN_S