diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ca98954175..cf15e30ca3 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -6124,7 +6124,7 @@ enabled pic && enable_weak_pic
 test_cc <<EOF || die "Symbol mangling check failed."
 int ff_extern;
 EOF
-sym=$($nm $TMPO | awk '/[ \t]+[^ \t]{0,1}ff_extern$/{ print substr($0, match($0, /[^ \t]{0,1}ff_extern$/)) }')
+sym=$($nm $TMPO | awk '/[ \t]+[^ \t]?ff_extern$/{ print substr($0, match($0, /[^ \t]?ff_extern$/)) }')
 extern_prefix=${sym%%ff_extern*}
 
 log "Symbol prefix detected as: '${extern_prefix}'"