diff --git a/ac/ax_boost_others.m4 b/ac/ax_boost_others.m4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c85209600
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ac/ax_boost_others.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+AC_DEFUN([AX_BOOST_ALGORITHM_STRING],[
+  AC_LANG_PUSH(C++)
+  AC_CHECK_HEADERS(boost/algorithm/string.hpp, , ax_cv_boost_algorithm_string=no)
+  AC_LANG_POP()
+])
diff --git a/ac/boost.m4 b/ac/boost.m4
index a49424782..5745d17db 100644
--- a/ac/boost.m4
+++ b/ac/boost.m4
@@ -46,3 +46,9 @@ fi
 if test x"$ax_cv_boost_property_tree" = "xincluded"; then
   EXTRA_CFLAGS="-I$boost_exception_dir $EXTRA_CFLAGS -I$boost_property_tree_dir"
 fi
+
+# boost::algorithm::string must be present
+AX_BOOST_ALGORITHM_STRING()
+if test x"$ax_cv_boost_algorithm_string" = xno ; then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR(The Boost String Algorithm Library was not found.)
+fi
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 23014b8d8..1887b93b2 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ m4_include(ac/ax_boost_foreach.m4)
 m4_include(ac/ax_boost_property_tree.m4)
 m4_include(ac/ax_boost_regex.m4)
 m4_include(ac/ax_boost_system.m4)
+m4_include(ac/ax_boost_others.m4)
 m4_include(ac/boost.m4)
 m4_include(ac/etags.m4)
 m4_include(ac/pandoc.m4)