diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 505ed947..5e220966 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -418,6 +418,12 @@ if test "$WITH_LUA" != "no"; then
  PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LUA, $WITH_LUA >= 5.1, [
    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LUA], [1], [liblua])
    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LUA_H], [1], [lua.h])
+ ],[
+   # for debian based systems
+   PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LUA, lua5.1 >= 5.1, [
+     AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LUA], [1], [liblua])
+     AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LUA_H], [1], [lua.h])
+   ])
  ])
 
  AC_SUBST(LUA_CFLAGS)