diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8171c21f..238405e9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ if test $have___thread = yes; then
 fi
 AC_MSG_RESULT($have___thread)
 
+AC_C_BIGENDIAN(
+   AC_DEFINE([IEEE_MC68k], 1, [machine is bigendian]),
+   AC_DEFINE([IEEE_8087], 1, [machine is littleendian]),
+   AC_MSG_ERROR(unknown endianess),
+   AC_MSG_ERROR(universial endianess not supported)
+)
 
 AC_SUBST([BUNDLER], ["$bundle_cmd"])
 
diff --git a/jv_dtoa.c b/jv_dtoa.c
index b8325267..4de92e43 100644
--- a/jv_dtoa.c
+++ b/jv_dtoa.c
@@ -187,7 +187,6 @@
  *	used for input more than STRTOD_DIGLIM digits long (default 40).
  */
 
-#define IEEE_8087
 #define NO_ERRNO
 #define NO_HEX_FP
 #define No_Hex_NaN