diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index fb78ea0aef..f4c0048d72 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ topsrcdir	= @top_srcdir@
 srcdir		= @srcdir@
 VPATH		= @srcdir@
 
+ifndef .PYMAKE
+ifeq (,$(MAKE_VERSION))
+$(error GNU Make is required)
+endif
+ifeq (,$(filter-out 3.78 3.79,$(MAKE_VERSION)))
+$(error GNU Make 3.80 or higher is required)
+endif
+endif
+
 include $(DEPTH)/config/autoconf.mk
 
 default::
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index ff42f2c0c8..e8d01721b9 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ PERL_VERSION=5.006
 CAIRO_VERSION=1.8.8
 PANGO_VERSION=1.14.0
 GTK2_VERSION=2.10.0
-MAKE_VERSION=3.78
 WINDRES_VERSION=2.14.90
 W32API_VERSION=3.8
 GNOMEVFS_VERSION=2.0
@@ -227,7 +226,6 @@ dnl ==============================================================
 if test -z "$CROSS_COMPILE"; then
 case "$target" in
 *-cygwin*|*-mingw*|*-msvc*|*-mks*)
-    MAKE_VERSION=3.79
     if test -z "$CC"; then CC=cl; fi
     if test -z "$CXX"; then CXX=cl; fi
     if test -z "$CPP"; then CPP="cl -E -nologo"; fi
@@ -1045,40 +1043,6 @@ fi
 
 fi # COMPILE_ENVIRONMENT
 
-dnl Be sure the make we use is GNU make.
-dnl on win32, gmake.exe is the generally the wrong version
-case "$host_os" in
-cygwin*|mingw*|mks*|msvc*)
-    AC_PATH_PROGS(MAKE, $MAKE make gmake, :)
-    ;;
-*)
-    AC_PATH_PROGS(MAKE, $MAKE gmake make, :)
-    ;;
-esac
-_make_try=`$MAKE --version 2>/dev/null | grep GNU`
-if test ! "$_make_try"
-then
-	echo
-	echo "*** $MAKE is not GNU Make.  You will not be able to build Mozilla without GNU Make."
-	echo
-	exit 1
-fi
-dnl Now exit if version if < MAKE_VERSION
-rm -f dummy.mk
-echo 'all: ; @echo $(MAKE_VERSION)' > dummy.mk
-_make_vers=`$MAKE --no-print-directory -f dummy.mk all 2>/dev/null`
-rm -f dummy.mk
-_MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION=`echo $_make_vers | $AWK -F\. '{ print $1 }'`
-_MAKE_MINOR_VERSION=`echo $_make_vers | $AWK -F\. '{ print $2 }'`
-MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION=`echo $MAKE_VERSION | $AWK -F\. '{ print $1 }'`
-MAKE_MINOR_VERSION=`echo $MAKE_VERSION | $AWK -F\. '{ print $2 }'`
-if test "$_MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION" -lt "$MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION" || \
-   test "$_MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION" = "$MAKE_MAJOR_VERSION" -a \
-        "$_MAKE_MINOR_VERSION" -lt "$MAKE_MINOR_VERSION"; then
-   AC_MSG_ERROR([GNU Make $MAKE_VERSION or higher is required to build Mozilla.])
-fi
-AC_SUBST(MAKE)
-
 if test "$COMPILE_ENVIRONMENT"; then
 
 AC_PATH_XTRA