diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 2e4a3b00fa..76289bcc1e 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ cc_i386=i386-pc-linux-gnu-gcc
 libs_qga=""
 debug_info="yes"
 
-target_list=""
+target_list="DEFAULT"
 
 # Default value for a variable defining feature "foo".
 #  * foo="no"  feature will only be used if --enable-foo arg is given
@@ -1317,15 +1317,10 @@ if ! "$python" -c 'import sys; sys.exit(sys.version_info < (2,4) or sys.version_
   exit 1
 fi
 
-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
+if test "$target_list" = "DEFAULT" ; then
+    target_list=`echo "$default_target_list" | sed -e 's/,/ /g'`
 fi
+
 # see if system emulation was really requested
 case " $target_list " in
   *"-softmmu "*) softmmu=yes