diff --git a/m4/expat.m4 b/m4/expat.m4
index aa672fa3..1cf4bf8a 100644
--- a/m4/expat.m4
+++ b/m4/expat.m4
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_HAS_EXPAT],
 [ 
   AC_ARG_WITH([expat],
-	      [  --with-expat=PREFIX     Specify expat library location],
+	      AS_HELP_STRING([--with-expat=PREFIX],[Specify expat library location]),
 	      [], 
               [with_expat=yes])
 
diff --git a/m4/libxml2.m4 b/m4/libxml2.m4
index 595f5af4..889c7ac4 100644
--- a/m4/libxml2.m4
+++ b/m4/libxml2.m4
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_HAS_LIBXML2],
 [ AC_ARG_WITH(libxml2,
-	      [  --with-libxml2=PREFIX    Specify libxml2 library location],
+	      AS_HELP_STRING([--with-libxml2=PREFIX],[Specify libxml2 library location]),
 	      , with_libxml2=yes)
 
   LIBXML2_CFLAGS=
diff --git a/m4/select_parser.m4 b/m4/select_parser.m4
index d577e206..cb83ce12 100644
--- a/m4/select_parser.m4
+++ b/m4/select_parser.m4
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_SELECT_XML_PARSER],
 [
-  AC_ARG_WITH(parser, 
-              [  --with-parser=expat|libxml2|xerces|garden  Specify a particular parser library],
+  AC_ARG_WITH([parser], 
+              AS_HELP_STRING([--with-parser=expat|libxml2|xerces|garden],
+                             [Specify a particular parser library]),
               , )
 
   if test "$with_parser" != ""; then
diff --git a/m4/xerces.m4 b/m4/xerces.m4
index cff25326..c2063817 100644
--- a/m4/xerces.m4
+++ b/m4/xerces.m4
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 AC_DEFUN([ARABICA_HAS_XERCES],
 [ AC_ARG_WITH([xerces],
-	      [  --with-xerces=PREFIX     Specify xerces library location],
+	      AS_HELP_STRING([--with-xerces=PREFIX],[Specify xerces library location]),
 	      [], 
               [with_xerces=yes])