diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index d1f02753..156b1b2a 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -63,4 +63,5 @@ EXTRA_DIST=		\
 	TODO		\
 	HACKING		\
 	gtest.mk	\
-	NEWS
+	NEWS		\
+	autogen.sh
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0feccc00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+echo "please use 'autoreconf -i'"