diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 7c5d4384..efffeec2 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -551,11 +551,8 @@ fn_makelink()
 	 esac
 	 ;;
     esac
-    if test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
-        cmd //c mklink `echo "$2 $tgt" | sed 's,/,\\\\,g'`
-    else
-        ln -sfn $tgt $2
-    fi
+
+    ln -sfn $tgt $2 || ( echo "ln failed. Using cp instead."; cp -f $1/$2 $2 )
 }
 
 if test "$source_path_used" = "yes" ; then