diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4c75616e42..99db7a1e35 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects foreign])
 # Remove default macros from config.h:
 #   PACKAGE, PACKAGE_{BUGREPORT,NAME,STRING,TARNAME,VERSION}, STDC_HEADERS, VERSION
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([zfs_config.h], [
-	sed -nri~ -e '/^$/be' -e 'N;N;/#define (PACKAGE|VERSION|STDC_HEADERS)/d' -e ':e' -e 'p' zfs_config.h && rm zfs_config.h~ || exit])
+	$SED -nri~ -e '/^$/be' -e 'N;N;/#define (PACKAGE|VERSION|STDC_HEADERS)/d' -e ':e' -e 'p' zfs_config.h && rm zfs_config.h~ || exit])
 
 LT_INIT
 AC_PROG_INSTALL