diff --git a/common/signal.c b/common/signal.c
index ccfa8e670..92925fdb7 100644
--- a/common/signal.c
+++ b/common/signal.c
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ get_signal_name( int signum )
 {
   /* Note that we can't use strsignal(), because it is not
      reentrant. */
-#if HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST && defined(NSIG)
+#if HAVE_SIGDESCR_NP
+  return sigdescr_np (signum);
+#elif HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST && defined(NSIG)
   return (signum >= 0 && signum < NSIG) ? sys_siglist[signum] : "?";
 #else
   return NULL;
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e1216c9ad..d9f3ea987 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1351,7 +1351,7 @@ AC_C_INLINE
 AC_C_VOLATILE
 AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
 AC_TYPE_MODE_T
-AC_TYPE_SIGNAL
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sigdescr_np])
 AC_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST
 
 gl_HEADER_SYS_SOCKET