diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 711be2ab..6e0883b6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -137,6 +137,18 @@ dnl else
 dnl	ALL_LINGUAS="af am ar as be bg bn_IN bn ca cs cy da de el en_GB es et eu_ES fa fi fr gl gu he hi hr hu hy id is it ja ka kn ko ku lo lt lv mk ml mr ms my nb nl nn no nso or pa pl pt_BR pt ro ru si sk sl sq sr@Latn sr sv ta te th tr uk ur vi zh_CN zh_TW zu"
 dnl fi
 
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS(error.h, [], [], AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT)
+
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS(stdio_ext.h, [], [], AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT)
+
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether program_invocation_name is defined)
+AC_TRY_COMPILE([#include <errno.h>],
+		[program_invocation_name = "test";],
+		AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME, 1,
+			[Define if program_invocation_name is defined])
+		AC_MSG_RESULT(yes),
+		AC_MSG_RESULT(no))
+
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether program_invocation_short_name is defined)
 AC_TRY_COMPILE([#include <errno.h>],
 		[program_invocation_short_name = "test";],
diff --git a/free.c b/free.c
index ecaeccdd..ffc4b86f 100644
--- a/free.c
+++ b/free.c
@@ -223,7 +223,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	args.repeat_interval = 1000000;
 	args.repeat_counter = 0;
 
-    program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
+	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/include/c.h b/include/c.h
index 737630bb..6bcdf5f5 100644
--- a/include/c.h
+++ b/include/c.h
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_ERROR_H
 #include <error.h>
+#else
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#endif
 
 /*
  * Compiler specific stuff
@@ -103,6 +107,23 @@ static inline char *prog_inv_sh_nm_from_file(char *f, char stripext)
 /*
  * Error printing.
  */
+#ifndef HAVE_ERROR_H
+/* Emulate the error() function from glibc */
+__attribute__((__format__(__printf__, 3, 4)))
+static void error(int status, int errnum, const char *format, ...)
+{
+        va_list argp;
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", program_invocation_short_name);
+        va_start(argp, format);
+        vfprintf(stderr, format, argp);
+        va_end(argp);
+        if (errnum != 0)
+                fprintf(stderr, ": error code %d", errnum);
+        fprintf(stderr, "\n");
+        if (status != 0)
+                exit(status);
+}
+#endif
 #define xwarn(...) error(0, errno, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define xwarnx(...) error(0, 0, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define xerr(STATUS, ...) error(STATUS, errno, __VA_ARGS__)
diff --git a/lib/fileutils.c b/lib/fileutils.c
index fe56cb81..a9ef2ff5 100644
--- a/lib/fileutils.c
+++ b/lib/fileutils.c
@@ -1,11 +1,22 @@
 #include <errno.h>
-#include <error.h>
-#include <stdio_ext.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_ERROR_H
+# include <error.h>
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_STDIO_EXT_H
+# include <stdio_ext.h>
+#else
+/* FIXME: use a more portable definition of __fpending() (from gnulib?) */
+# include <stdio.h>
+# define __fpending(fp) ((fp)->_p - (fp)->_bf._base)
+#endif
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "nls.h"
 #include "fileutils.h"
+#ifndef HAVE_ERROR_H
+# include "c.h" /* for error() emulation */
+#endif
 
 int close_stream(FILE * stream)
 {
diff --git a/pgrep.c b/pgrep.c
index 349221a6..7c54d964 100644
--- a/pgrep.c
+++ b/pgrep.c
@@ -832,7 +832,9 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 	struct el *procs;
 	int num;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/pmap.c b/pmap.c
index 09e4e367..95f365f9 100644
--- a/pmap.c
+++ b/pmap.c
@@ -1012,7 +1012,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	nls_initialize();
 	atexit(close_stdout);
 
diff --git a/pwdx.c b/pwdx.c
index 4aee389b..214275a9 100644
--- a/pwdx.c
+++ b/pwdx.c
@@ -74,7 +74,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{NULL, 0, 0, 0}
 	};
 
-    program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
+	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/skill.c b/skill.c
index 03df229c..fb57305a 100644
--- a/skill.c
+++ b/skill.c
@@ -629,7 +629,9 @@ static void skillsnice_parse(int argc,
 /* main body */
 int main(int argc, char ** argv)
 {
-    program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
+	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	struct run_time_conf_t run_time;
 	memset(&run_time, 0, sizeof(struct run_time_conf_t));
 	my_pid = getpid();
diff --git a/slabtop.c b/slabtop.c
index 9e535d4f..ebdae8d4 100644
--- a/slabtop.c
+++ b/slabtop.c
@@ -300,7 +300,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{  NULL, 0, NULL, 0 }
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/sysctl.c b/sysctl.c
index 81d697e7..14257098 100644
--- a/sysctl.c
+++ b/sysctl.c
@@ -675,7 +675,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/tload.c b/tload.c
index 765ed177..a5fe14a0 100644
--- a/tload.c
+++ b/tload.c
@@ -114,7 +114,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
  
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/uptime.c b/uptime.c
index ac4579cd..27421895 100644
--- a/uptime.c
+++ b/uptime.c
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/vmstat.c b/vmstat.c
index a2627b8d..6f95f095 100644
--- a/vmstat.c
+++ b/vmstat.c
@@ -724,7 +724,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/w.c b/w.c
index 27c7d222..a73f3282 100644
--- a/w.c
+++ b/w.c
@@ -483,7 +483,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);
diff --git a/watch.c b/watch.c
index 0fe0a8fb..07134487 100644
--- a/watch.c
+++ b/watch.c
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include "fileutils.h"
 #include "nls.h"
-#include "proc/procps.h"
 #include "strutils.h"
 #include "xalloc.h"
 #include <ctype.h>
@@ -590,7 +589,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{0, 0, 0, 0}
 	};
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PROGRAM_INVOCATION_NAME
 	program_invocation_name = program_invocation_short_name;
+#endif
 	setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
 	bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	textdomain(PACKAGE);