diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 7e23309dd4..b13fde733b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ cc_i386=i386-pc-linux-gnu-gcc
 libs_qga=""
 debug_info="yes"
 
-target_list="DEFAULT"
+target_list=""
 
 # Default value for a variable defining feature "foo".
 #  * foo="no"  feature will only be used if --enable-foo arg is given
@@ -1319,10 +1319,15 @@ if ! "$python" -c 'import sys; sys.exit(sys.version_info < (2,4) or sys.version_
   exit 1
 fi
 
-if test "$target_list" = "DEFAULT" ; then
-    target_list=`echo "$default_target_list" | sed -e 's/,/ /g'`
+if test -z "$target_list" ; then
+    target_list="$default_target_list"
+else
+    target_list=`echo "$target_list" | sed -e 's/,/ /g'`
+fi
+if test -z "$target_list" ; then
+    echo "No targets enabled"
+    exit 1
 fi
-
 # see if system emulation was really requested
 case " $target_list " in
   *"-softmmu "*) softmmu=yes