diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0b78352605..b342fafd7b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -8323,7 +8323,7 @@ EOF
 cat >> $CONFIG_STATUS <<\EOF
 
 # Update timestamp for config.h (see Makefile.global)
-echo >src/include/stamp-h
+test x"$CONFIG_HEADERS" != x"" && echo >src/include/stamp-h
 
 exit 0
 EOF
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index dd03fa5ea1..b16c7bdfce 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1140,5 +1140,5 @@ AC_OUTPUT(
 ],
 [
 # Update timestamp for config.h (see Makefile.global)
-echo >src/include/stamp-h
+test x"$CONFIG_HEADERS" != x"" && echo >src/include/stamp-h
 ])