diff --git a/m4/openvswitch.m4 b/m4/openvswitch.m4
index 79e0be5a33dd..da7119951484 100644
--- a/m4/openvswitch.m4
+++ b/m4/openvswitch.m4
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([OVS_CHECK_UNBOUND],
 
 dnl Checks for libunwind.
 AC_DEFUN([OVS_CHECK_UNWIND],
-  [AC_CHECK_LIB(unwind, unw_backtrace, [HAVE_UNWIND=yes], [HAVE_UNWIND=no])
+  [AC_CHECK_HEADERS([libunwind.h], [HAVE_UNWIND=yes], [HAVE_UNWIND=no])
    if test "$HAVE_UNWIND" = yes; then
      AC_DEFINE([HAVE_UNWIND], [1], [Define to 1 if unwind is detected.])
      LIBS="$LIBS -lunwind"