diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 692c3d706..800ef780a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ case $host_os in
                 host_os_gui="X11"
                 OPTIM="-U__APPLE__ $OPTIM"
                 macosversion=`sw_vers -productVersion | cut -d. -f2`
-                if  test $macosversion -ge "13" ; then
+                macosversion_maj=`sw_vers -productVersion | cut -d. -f1`
+                if  test $macosversion_maj -ge "11" -o $macosversion -ge "13" ; then
                         CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -mmacosx-version-min=10.9 -D_LIBCPP_HAS_THREAD_API_PTHREAD"
                 fi
         fi