diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9bfa36b..aaed00d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,27 @@
+aclocal.m4
+autom4te*.cache
+configure
+config.h*
+config.status
+libtool
+stamp-h*
+
+Makefile
+Makefile.in
+.deps
+.libs
+
+test-driver
+*.log
+*.trs
+
 *.o
+*.a
 *.so
-/capn-test
-/capnpc-c
-/capn.a
-/gtest-all.a
-.cproject
-.project
-.settings
+*.lo
+*.la
+
+capn-test
+capnpc-c
+
+*.tar.gz
diff --git a/LICENSE b/COPYING
similarity index 100%
rename from LICENSE
rename to COPYING
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index 83245df..0000000
--- a/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-.PHONY: all clean test
-
-LDFLAGS=-O2 -fPIC
-CFLAGS=-O2 -std=gnu11 -Wall -Wextra -fPIC -I. \
-       -Wno-unused-function -Wno-missing-field-initializers -Wno-unused-parameter
-ifneq (,$(findstring gcc, $(CC)))
-	# gcc's maybe-unintialized is too imprecise, disable it.
-	# clang disbles this functionality by default and doesn't recognize the flag.
-	# (check for CC that contains rather than equals 'gcc',
-	#  to accommodate using specific versions, like gcc-4.9 etc)
-	CFLAGS += -Wno-maybe-uninitialized
-endif
-
-GTEST_CFLAGS=-std=c++11 `gtest-config --cppflags --cxxflags`
-GTEST_LDFLAGS=`gtest-config --ldflags --libs`
-
-OBJS=capn-malloc.o capn-stream.o capn.o
-prefix = /usr
-
-all: capn.a capn.so capnpc-c test
-
-clean:
-	rm -f *.o *.so capnpc-c compiler/*.o *.a
-
-%.o: %.c *.h *.inc compiler/*.h
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
-
-capn.so: $(OBJS)
-	$(CC) -shared $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o $@
-
-capn.a: $(OBJS)
-	$(AR) rcs $@ $^
-
-capnpc-c: compiler/capnpc-c.o compiler/schema.capnp.o compiler/str.o capn.a
-	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o $@
-
-test: capn-test
-	./capn-test
-
-%-test.o: %-test.cpp *.h *.c *.inc
-	$(CXX) --std=c++11 -g -I. `gtest-config --cppflags --cxxflags` -o $@ -c $<
-
-capn-test: capn-test.o capn-stream-test.o compiler/test.capnp.o compiler/schema-test.o compiler/schema.capnp.o capn.a
-	$(CXX) -std=c++11 -g -I. $^ `gtest-config --ldflags --libs` -o $@
-
-install:
-	install -c capnpc-c $(prefix)/bin/capnpc-c
-	install -c capn.so $(prefix)/lib/capn.so
-	install -c capn.a $(prefix)/lib/capn.a
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2df7611
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign subdir-objects
+
+lib_LTLIBRARIES =
+bin_PROGRAMS =
+check_PROGRAMS =
+EXTRA_DIST =
+noinst_HEADERS =
+include_HEADERS =
+
+
+
+lib_LTLIBRARIES += libcapn.la
+libcapn_la_LDFLAGS = -version-info 1:0:0 
+libcapn_la_SOURCES = \
+	capn-malloc.c \
+	capn-stream.c \
+	capn.c
+
+bin_PROGRAMS += capnpc-c
+capnpc_c_SOURCES = \
+	compiler/capnpc-c.c \
+	compiler/schema.capnp.c \
+	compiler/str.c
+capnpc_c_LDADD = libcapn.la
+include_HEADERS += \
+	capn.h
+
+EXTRA_DIST += \
+	capn-list.inc
+noinst_HEADERS += \
+	compiler/str.h \
+	compiler/schema.capnp.h \
+	compiler/c++.capnp.h \
+	compiler/test.capnp.h
+
+if GTEST
+AM_CXXFLAGS = -std=gnu++11
+check_PROGRAMS += \
+	capn-test
+capn_test_SOURCES = \
+	capn-test.cpp \
+	capn-stream-test.cpp \
+	compiler/test.capnp.c \
+	compiler/schema-test.cpp \
+	compiler/schema.capnp.c
+capn_test_CFLAGS = $(GTEST_CFLAGS)
+capn_test_LDADD = libcapn.la $(GTEST_LDFLAGS)
+TESTS = capn-test 
+endif
diff --git a/ac/.gitignore b/ac/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6b7ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ac/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+*
+!.gitignore
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..de45840
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+AC_PREREQ(2.60)
+
+AC_INIT(c-capnproto, 0.1, [])
+AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(capn.h)
+AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
+AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([ac])
+
+AC_CANONICAL_BUILD()
+AC_CANONICAL_HOST()
+AC_CANONICAL_TARGET()
+
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(1.14)
+AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])
+AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
+
+AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
+
+LT_INIT
+
+AC_LANG([C])
+AC_PROG_CC
+AC_PROG_CXX
+
+AC_PROG_INSTALL
+AC_PROG_LN_S
+
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror,
+  AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-werror], [enable -Werror (for developers only)]))
+if test x"${enable_werror}" = x"yes" ; then
+  WERROR="-Werror"
+fi
+AC_SUBST(WERROR)
+
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(CAPNP, [capnp >= 0.5.2], [], [
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([capnproto base package (0.5.2 or newer) not found])
+])
+
+AC_ARG_WITH(gtest,
+  AS_HELP_STRING([--without-gtest], [disable unit tests using gtest]))
+if test "x$with_gtest" != "xno" ; then
+  AC_PATH_TOOL([GTEST_CONFIG], [gtest-config], [no])
+  if test x"$GTEST_CONFIG" = x"no"; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([gtest installation not found])
+  fi
+  GTEST_LDFLAGS="`${GTEST_CONFIG} --ldflags --libs`"
+  GTEST_CFLAGS="`${GTEST_CONFIG} --cppflags --cxxflags`"
+  gtest=yes
+fi
+AC_SUBST(GTEST_LDFLAGS)
+AC_SUBST(GTEST_CFLAGS)
+AM_CONDITIONAL([GTEST], [test "x$gtest" = "xyes"])
+
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([
+	Makefile
+])
+AC_OUTPUT
diff --git a/m4/.gitignore b/m4/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f4126c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.m4