diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index df1ac0733..4aa111936 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2009-09-11  Colin Watson  <cjwatson@ubuntu.com>
+
+	* configure.ac: Don't look for help2man when cross-compiling.  Fixes
+	part of bug #27349.
+
 2009-09-10  Felix Zielcke  <fzielcke@z-51.de>
 
 	* util/grub-mkconfig.in: Make the created config mode 400 and
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 551605812..b7fa044a5 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 
 # These are not a "must".
 AC_PATH_PROG(RUBY, ruby)
-AC_PATH_PROG(HELP2MAN, help2man)
 
 #
 # Checks for host programs.
@@ -171,6 +170,12 @@ if test x$grub_cv_apple_cc = xyes ; then
   ASFLAGS="$ASFLAGS -DAPPLE_CC=1"
 fi
 
+if test "x$cross_compiling" = xyes; then
+  AC_MSG_WARN([cannot generate manual pages while cross compiling])
+else
+  AC_PATH_PROG(HELP2MAN, help2man)
+fi
+
 # Check for functions.
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(posix_memalign memalign asprintf)