--- a/make/Main.gmk	Wed Feb 12 17:03:39 2014 -0800
+++ b/make/Main.gmk	Thu Feb 13 23:30:08 2014 +0100
@@ -71,8 +71,9 @@
 # Setup a rule for SPEC file that fails if executed. This check makes sure the configuration
 # is up to date after changes to configure
 $(SPEC): $(wildcard $(SRC_ROOT)/common/autoconf/*)
-	@$(ECHO) ERROR: $(SPEC) is not up to date
-	@$(ECHO) Please rerun configure!
+	@$(ECHO) "ERROR: $(SPEC) is not up to date."
+	@$(ECHO) "Please rerun configure! Easiest way to do this is by running"
+	@$(ECHO) "'make reconfigure'."
 	@if test "x$(IGNORE_OLD_CONFIG)" != "xtrue"; then exit 1; fi
 
 start-make: $(SPEC)
@@ -235,6 +236,14 @@
 	$(call CleanComponent,docstemp)
 clean-test:
 	$(call CleanComponent,testoutput)
+	
+reconfigure:
+        ifneq ($(CONFIGURE_COMMAND_LINE), )
+	  @$(ECHO) "Re-running configure using arguments '$(CONFIGURE_COMMAND_LINE)'"
+        else
+	  @$(ECHO) "Re-running configure using default settings"
+        endif
+	@( cd $(OUTPUT_ROOT) && $(BASH) $(TOPDIR)/configure "$(CONFIGURE_COMMAND_LINE)" )
 
 .PHONY: langtools corba jaxp jaxws hotspot jdk nashorn images overlay-images install test docs
 .PHONY: langtools-only corba-only jaxp-only jaxws-only hotspot-only jdk-only nashorn-only images-only overlay-images-only install-only test-only docs-only