Index: configure.ac
===================================================================
--- configure.ac	(revision 2501)
+++ configure.ac	(working copy)
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@ AC_SUBST(DESKBAR_LIBS)
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for gnomeapplet module])
 if AC_RUN_LOG([DISPLAY= $PYTHON -c '
+import pygtk
+pygtk.require("2.0")
+import gtk
+gtk.gdk.threads_init()
+
 try:
     import gnomeapplet
 except ImportError, e:
