diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index d66b83680..415b2d931 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@
 
 # Only there to make jhbuild happy
 
+if [ -z $MESON ]; then
+	MESON=`which meson`
+fi
+if [ -z $MESON ]; then
+	echo "error: Meson not found."
+	echo "Install meson to configure and build Pipewire. If meson" \
+	     "is already installed, set the environment variable MESON" \
+	     "to the binary's path."
+	exit 1;
+fi
+
 mkdir -p build
-meson setup "$@" build  # use 'autogen.sh --reconfigure' to update
+$MESON setup "$@" build # use 'autogen.sh --reconfigure' to update
 ln -sf build/Makefile Makefile