diff --git a/ax_check_qt.m4 b/ax_check_qt.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26d9b4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ax_check_qt.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# SYNOPSIS
+#
+#   AX_CXX_CHECK_QT([qt_prefix], [list-of-qt-modules])
+#
+# DESCRIPTIONS
+#
+#    qt_prefix
+#
+#      Each call to AX_CXX_CHECK_QT should have a different prefix
+#      value (with a few exceptions discussed later on). This value,
+#      usually provided in uppercase, is used as prefix to the
+#      variables holding the compiler flags and libraries reported by
+#      pkg-config.
+#
+#      For instance, if your prefix was to be FOO you'll be provided
+#      two variables FOO_CFLAGS and FOO_LIBS.
+#
+#      This will also be used as message during the configure checks:
+#      checking for FOO....
+#
+#    list-of-modules
+#
+#      A single call to the macro can check for the presence of one or
+#      more qt modules; you'll see later how to make good use of this
+#      feature. Each entry in the list can have a version comparison
+#      specifier, with the same syntax as the Requires keyword in the
+#      data files themselves.
+
+AC_DEFUN([AX_CXX_QT_TOOL], [
+  AC_ARG_VAR([$1], [path to Qt tool $2])
+  $1=${$1:-$(pkg-config --variable=$2_location Qt5Core)}
+  $1=${$1:-$(pkg-config --variable=host_bins Qt5Core)/$2}
+  $1=${$1:-$(pkg-config --variable=$2_location QtCore)}
+  $1=${$1:-$(pkg-config --variable=host_bins QtCore)/$2}
+  if ! which "$$1" > /dev/null; then
+    if which "$2" > /dev/null; then
+      $1=$2
+    else
+      if test -n "$$1"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([Missing Qt program: $2 (tested: $$1)])
+      else
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([Missing Qt program: $2 (specify variable $1)])
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST($1)
+  AC_MSG_NOTICE([using $$1 for $2])
+])
+
+AC_DEFUN([AX_CXX_QT_TOOLS], [
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOL(MOC, moc)
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOL(UIC, uic)
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOL(RCC, rcc)
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOL(LUPDATE, lupdate)
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOL(LRELEASE, lrelease)
+])
+
+AC_DEFUN([AX_CXX_CHECK_QT], [
+  qt_modules="$2"
+  AX_CXX_QT_TOOLS
+  HAVE_$1=0
+  PKG_CHECK_MODULES([$1], [${qt_modules//Qt/Qt5}], [
+    HAVE_$1=1
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_$1])
+  ], [
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([$1], [${qt_modules}], [
+      HAVE_$1=1
+      AC_DEFINE([HAVE_$1])
+    ])
+  ])
+  AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_$1, test $HAVE_$1 -eq 1)
+])
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 935e2e4..f325714 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # $Id$
 m4_include(ax_cxx_compile_stdcxx_11.m4)
+m4_include(ax_check_qt.m4)
 AC_ALIAS([AC_DEFINE_DIR], [AX_DEFINE_DIR])
 AC_DEFUN([AX_DEFINE_DIR], [
   prefix_NONE=
@@ -108,49 +109,7 @@ case $host in
                        have_proxy=1])
     ;;
 esac
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([QT], [Qt5Core Qt5Gui Qt5Widgets Qt5Network],
-   [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_QT])
-    UIC=${UIC:-$(pkg-config --variable=uic_location Qt5Core)}
-    MOC=${MOC:-$(pkg-config --variable=moc_location Qt5Core)}
-    RCC=${RCC:-$(pkg-config --variable=rcc_location Qt5Core)}
-    LUPDATE=${LUPDATE:-$(pkg-config --variable=lupdate_location Qt5Core)}
-    LRELEASE=${LRELEASE:-$(pkg-config --variable=lrelease_location Qt5Core)}
-    CPPFLAGS+=" -DQT_NETWORK_LIB ${QT_CFLAGS}"
-    LIBS+=" ${QT_LIBS}"
-    have_qt=1],
-   [PKG_CHECK_MODULES([QT], [QtCore QtGui QtNetwork],
-       [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_QT])
-        UIC=${UIC:-$(pkg-config --variable=uic_location QtCore)}
-        MOC=${MOC:-$(pkg-config --variable=moc_location QtCore)}
-        RCC=${RCC:-$(pkg-config --variable=rcc_location QtCore)}
-        LUPDATE=${LUPDATE:-$(pkg-config --variable=lupdate_location QtCore)}
-        LRELEASE=${LRELEASE:-$(pkg-config --variable=lrelease_location QtCore)}
-        CPPFLAGS+=" -DQT_NETWORK_LIB ${QT_CFLAGS}"
-        LIBS+=" ${QT_LIBS}"
-        have_qt=1],
-       [have_qt=0])])
-AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_QT, test "$have_qt" = "1")
-if test "$have_qt" = "1" \
-   && ! which "$UIC" "$MOC" "$RCC" "$LUPDATE" "$LRELEASE"; then
-     if test -n "$MOC" \
-        && which "${UIC:=${MOC/moc/uic}}" "${RCC:=${MOC/moc/rcc}}" \
-                 "${LUPDATE:=${MOC/moc/lupdate}}" \
-                 "${LRELEASE:=${MOC/moc/lrelease}}"; then
-        AC_MSG_NOTICE([Detected: "$UIC" "$MOC" "$RCC" "$LUPDATE" "$LRELEASE"])
-     else
-        AC_MSG_ERROR([Missing QT Programs.
-  - Needed: uic moc rcc lupdate lrelease
-  - Found: $UIC $MOC $RCC $LUPDATE $LRELEASE
-You can specify the missing programs by passing one of the variables:
-    \$UIC \$MOC \$RCC \$LUPDATE \$LRELEASE
-Often it is sufficient to specify MOC=/path/to/moc ./configure)])
-     fi
-fi
-AC_SUBST(UIC)
-AC_SUBST(MOC)
-AC_SUBST(RCC)
-AC_SUBST(LUPDATE)
-AC_SUBST(LRELEASE)
+AX_CXX_CHECK_QT([QT], [Qt5Core Qt5Gui Qt5Widgets Qt5Network])
 AC_ARG_VAR(LUPDATE_ARGS, [arguments for qt lupdate command, e.g. -no-obsolete])
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(pedantic,