--- configure.ac
+++ configure.ac
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 case $host in
     *-*-cygwin*)	AC_SUBST(LIBS, ["-liconv"]);;
+    *-*-darwin*)	AC_SUBST(LIBS, ["-liconv"]);;
+    *-*-solaris*)	AC_SUBST(LIBS, ["-liconv"]);;
 esac
+# should actually use this instead (from gettext):
+#AM_ICONV
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
                  charmaps/Makefile