diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index adac3bb93..8ea916137 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -59,9 +59,12 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB(z, gzwrite, HAVE_LIBZ=yes, HAVE_LIBZ=no)
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_LIBZ)
 if test "$WIN32" = "yes"; then
 AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, main)
+AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, main, HAVE_LIBBZ2=yes, HAVE_LIBBZ2=no)
 else
 AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, BZ2_bzdopen)
+AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, BZ2_bzdopen, HAVE_LIBBZ2=yes, HAVE_LIBBZ2=no)
 fi
+AC_SUBST(HAVE_LIBBZ2)
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(for sys/times)
 AC_TRY_LINK(
diff --git a/vpi/Makefile.in b/vpi/Makefile.in
index 35d095547..cfb293663 100644
--- a/vpi/Makefile.in
+++ b/vpi/Makefile.in
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ sys_readmem.o sys_readmem_lex.o \
 sys_time.o sys_vcd.o sys_vcdoff.o vcd_priv.o mt19937int.o priv.o stringheap.o
 
 ifeq (@HAVE_LIBZ@,yes)
-O += sys_lxt.o lxt_write.o sys_lxt2.o lxt2_write.o
+ifeq (@HAVE_LIBBZ2@,yes)
+O += sys_lxt.o lxt_write.o
+endif
+O += sys_lxt2.o lxt2_write.o
 endif
 
 LIBS = @LIBS@
diff --git a/vpi/configure.in b/vpi/configure.in
index edff1072f..172378351 100644
--- a/vpi/configure.in
+++ b/vpi/configure.in
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB(z, gzwrite, HAVE_LIBZ=yes, HAVE_LIBZ=no)
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_LIBZ)
 if test "$WIN32" = "yes"; then
 AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, main)
+AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, main, HAVE_LIBBZ2=yes, HAVE_LIBBZ2=no)
 else
 AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, BZ2_bzdopen)
+AC_CHECK_LIB(bz2, BZ2_bzdopen, HAVE_LIBBZ2=yes, HAVE_LIBBZ2=no)
 fi
+AC_SUBST(HAVE_LIBBZ2)
 
 # --
 # Look for a dl library to use. First look for the standard dlopen
diff --git a/vpi/sys_table.c b/vpi/sys_table.c
index fb4bd6285..4a42e6059 100644
--- a/vpi/sys_table.c
+++ b/vpi/sys_table.c
@@ -40,7 +40,11 @@ extern void sys_vcd_register();
 extern void sys_vcdoff_register();
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBBZ2
 extern void sys_lxt_register();
+#else
+static void sys_lxt_register() { fputs("LXT support disabled since libbzip2 not available\n",stderr); exit(1); }
+#endif
 extern void sys_lxt2_register();
 #else
 static void sys_lxt_register() { fputs("LXT support disabled since zlib not available\n",stderr); exit(1); }