--- a/aclocal.m4
+++ b/aclocal.m4
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_GPERF
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_GPERF, [
-  AC_CHECK_PROG(GPERF, gperf, gperf, [])
+  AC_CHECK_PROG(GPERF, gperf)
   if test -n "$GPERF"; then
     if echo "%{
 enum octave_kw_id { a_kw };
@@ -564,7 +564,15 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_GHOSTSCRIPT
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_GHOSTSCRIPT, [
-  AC_CHECK_PROG(GHOSTSCRIPT, gs, gs, [])
+  case "$canonical_host_type" in
+    *-*-cygwin* | *-*-mingw32* | *-*-msdosmsvc)
+      gs_names="gs gswin32"
+    ;;
+    *)
+      gs_names=gs
+    ;;
+  esac
+  AC_CHECK_PROGS(GHOSTSCRIPT, $gs_names)
   if test -z "$GHOSTSCRIPT"; then
     GHOSTSCRIPT='$(top_srcdir)/missing gs'
     warn_ghostscript="I didn't find ghostscript, but it's only a problem if you need to reconstruct figures for the manual"
@@ -577,7 +585,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_MAKEINFO
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_MAKEINFO, [
-  AC_CHECK_PROG(MAKEINFO, makeinfo, makeinfo, [])
+  AC_CHECK_PROG(MAKEINFO, makeinfo)
   if test -z "$MAKEINFO"; then
     MAKEINFO='$(top_srcdir)/missing makeinfo'
     warn_makeinfo="I didn't find makeinfo, but it's only a problem if you need to reconstruct the Info version of the manual"
@@ -590,7 +598,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2DVI
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2DVI, [
-  AC_CHECK_PROG(TEXI2DVI, texi2dvi, texi2dvi, [])
+  AC_CHECK_PROG(TEXI2DVI, texi2dvi)
   if test -z "$TEXI2DVI"; then
     TEXI2DVI='$(top_srcdir)/missing texi2dvi'
     warn_texi2dvi="I didn't find texi2dvi, but it's only a problem if you need to reconstruct the DVI version of the manual"
@@ -603,8 +611,18 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2PDF
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2PDF, [
-  AC_CHECK_PROG(TEXI2PDF, texi2pdf, texi2pdf, [])
+  AC_REQUIRE([OCTAVE_PROG_TEXI2DVI])
+  AC_CHECK_PROG(TEXI2PDF, texi2pdf)
   if test -z "$TEXI2PDF"; then
+    missing=true;
+    if test -n "$TEXI2DVI"; then
+      TEXI2PDF="$TEXI2DVI --pdf"
+      missing=false;
+    fi
+  else
+    missing=false;
+  fi
+  if $missing; then
     TEXI2PDF='$(top_srcdir)/missing texi2pdf'
     warn_texi2pdf="I didn't find texi2pdf, but it's only a problem if you need to reconstruct the PDF version of the manual"
     AC_MSG_WARN($warn_texi2pdf)
@@ -865,7 +883,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_PERL
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_PERL,
-[AC_CHECK_PROG(PERL, perl, perl, [])
+[AC_CHECK_PROG(PERL, perl)
   AC_SUBST(PERL)
 ])
 dnl
@@ -873,7 +891,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_PYTHON
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_PYTHON,
-[AC_CHECK_PROG(PYTHON, python, python, [])
+[AC_CHECK_PROG(PYTHON, python)
   AC_SUBST(PYTHON)
 ])
 dnl
@@ -881,7 +899,7 @@
 dnl
 dnl OCTAVE_PROG_DESKTOP_FILE_INSTALL
 AC_DEFUN(OCTAVE_PROG_DESKTOP_FILE_INSTALL,
-[AC_CHECK_PROG(DESKTOP_FILE_INSTALL, desktop-file-install, desktop-file-install, [])
+[AC_CHECK_PROG(DESKTOP_FILE_INSTALL, desktop-file-install)
   AC_SUBST(DESKTOP_FILE_INSTALL)
 ])
 dnl