diff --git a/doc/INSTALL b/doc/INSTALL
index d27624143..6bd77bdf5 100644
--- a/doc/INSTALL
+++ b/doc/INSTALL
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ VFS options:
      Support for FISH vfs
 
 `--enable-vfs-sftp'
-     (off by default)
+     (auto)
      Support for SFTP vfs
 
 `--enable-vfs-extfs'
diff --git a/m4.include/vfs/mc-vfs-sftp.m4 b/m4.include/vfs/mc-vfs-sftp.m4
index a977c0339..fa4001038 100644
--- a/m4.include/vfs/mc-vfs-sftp.m4
+++ b/m4.include/vfs/mc-vfs-sftp.m4
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ dnl Enable SFTP filesystem
 AC_DEFUN([AC_MC_VFS_SFTP],
 [
     AC_ARG_ENABLE([vfs-sftp],
-                  AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-vfs-sftp], [Support for SFTP filesystem [[yes]]]))
+                  AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-vfs-sftp], [Support for SFTP filesystem [auto]]))
     if test "$enable_vfs" != "no" -a x"$enable_vfs_sftp" != x"no"; then
         PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBSSH, [libssh2 >= 1.2.5], [found_libssh=yes], [:])
         if test x"$found_libssh" = "xyes"; then
@@ -11,8 +11,11 @@ AC_DEFUN([AC_MC_VFS_SFTP],
             MCLIBS="$MCLIBS $LIBSSH_LIBS"
             enable_vfs_sftp="yes"
         else
+            if test x"$enable_vfs_sftp" = x"yes"; then
+                dnl user explicitly requested feature
+                AC_ERROR([libssh2 >= 1.2.5 library not found])
+            fi
             enable_vfs_sftp="no"
-            AC_ERROR([libssh2 >= 1.2.5 library not found])
         fi
     fi
     AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_VFS_SFTP], [test "$enable_vfs" = "yes" -a x"$enable_vfs_sftp" = x"yes"])