--- autoconf-2.59/bin/autoreconf.in~autoreconf-foreign	2004-05-09 20:55:06.000000000 -0400
+++ autoconf-2.59/bin/autoreconf.in	2004-05-09 20:55:55.000000000 -0400
@@ -184,6 +184,8 @@
 
   $aclocal_supports_force = `$aclocal --help` =~ /--force/;
 
+  $automake   .= ' --foreign';
+
   # Dispatch autoreconf's option to the tools.
   # --include;
   $autoconf   .= join (' --include=', '', @include);