-# Man pages are only built if the --enable-man-pages option was
-# passed to the configure script.
+# Man pages are only built if they are enabled at configure time.
#
# They should always be built before creating a distribution tarball.
dist_man8_MANS += $(MAN8)
endif # MAN_PAGES_OPT
+if !MAN_PAGES_OPT
+dist-hook:
+ @echo "Error: Please enable the man pages before creating a distribution tarball."
+ @false
+endif # !MAN_PAGES_OPT
+
# always distribute the source files
EXTRA_DIST = $(MAN_TXT) $(COMMON_TXT) $(XSL_SRC_FILES) $(ASCIIDOC_CONF)