diff --git a/stepmania/autoconf/m4/tls.m4 b/stepmania/autoconf/m4/tls.m4
index 37bed15647..cddc769674 100644
--- a/stepmania/autoconf/m4/tls.m4
+++ b/stepmania/autoconf/m4/tls.m4
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
-# See if we have working TLS.  We only check to see if it compiles; we test
-# to see if it works at runtime, since we can run binaries compiled with __thread
-# on systems without TLS.
+# See if we have working TLS.  We only check to see if it compiles, and that
+# the resulting program actually runs, not whether the resulting TLS variables
+# work properly; that check is done at runtime, since we can run binaries
+# compiled with __thread on systems without TLS.
 AC_DEFUN(SM_TLS,
 [
     AC_MSG_CHECKING(for TLS)
-    AC_TRY_COMPILE( [], [ static __thread int val; ], have_tls=yes,have_tls=no,have_tls=no )
+    AC_TRY_RUN( [ static __thread int val; int main() { return 0; } ], have_tls=yes,have_tls=no,have_tls=no )
     AC_MSG_RESULT($have_tls)
     if test "$have_tls" = "yes"; then
-        AC_DEFINE([HAVE_TLS],[1],[Define if the complier supports __thread])
+        AC_DEFINE([HAVE_TLS],[1],[Define if the compiler supports __thread])
         AC_DEFINE([thread_local],[__thread],[Define to the compiler TLS keyword])
     fi
 ])