diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index f40ac289431b8b27310966b27c0b3313cd548b26..db18a2ce3b45c141ed25bfa43b60f7f1dd5a3ffb 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -85,8 +85,12 @@ polkit_in_files = $(polkit_in_in_files:.policy.in.in=.policy.in)
 %.policy.in: %.policy.in.in Makefile
 	sed -e "s,\@bindir\@,$(bindir),g" < $< > $@
 polkit_policy_DATA = $(polkit_in_files:.policy.in=.policy)
+# Not using HAVE_POLKIT because a lot of distributions put
+# polkit.{its,loc} in binary package instead of development package.
+# E.g. Debian puts in polkitd instead of libpolkit-gobject-1-dev
 %.policy: %.policy.in Makefile
-	$(AM_V_GEN)$(MSGFMT) --xml --template $< -d $(top_srcdir)/po -o $@
+	$(AM_V_GEN)$(MSGFMT) --xml --template $< -d $(top_srcdir)/po -o $@ || \
+		cp $< $@
 
 EXTRA_DIST =								\
 	FAQ								\
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3e8dcf8c70510e1325619f77ca452132ba434842..1eebae2c02e3d754d23b2fc79c6c91e5eb7d7b22 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ XDT_CHECK_PACKAGE([LIBXFCE4KBD_PRIVATE], [libxfce4kbd-private-3], [4.17.2])
 XDT_CHECK_PACKAGE([XFCONF], [libxfconf-0], [4.12.0])
 XDT_CHECK_PACKAGE([PANGO], [pango], [1.38.0])
 
+dnl ***********************************************************************
+dnl *** Only needs /usr/{,local/}gettext/its/polkit.{its,loc} ***
+dnl ***********************************************************************
+XDT_CHECK_OPTIONAL_PACKAGE([POLKIT], [polkit-gobject-1], [0.102], [polkit], [Polkit l10n support])
+
 dnl ******************************
 dnl *** GObject Instrospection ***
 dnl ******************************