--- a/make/autoconf/basics.m4	Tue Feb 19 12:43:10 2019 -0800
+++ b/make/autoconf/basics.m4	Tue Feb 19 12:44:56 2019 -0800
@@ -618,14 +618,6 @@
   BASIC_PATH_PROGS(CPIO, [cpio bsdcpio])
   BASIC_PATH_PROGS(NICE, nice)
 
-  BASIC_PATH_PROGS(PANDOC, pandoc)
-  if test -n "$PANDOC"; then
-    ENABLE_PANDOC="true"
-  else
-    ENABLE_PANDOC="false"
-  fi
-  AC_SUBST(ENABLE_PANDOC)
-
   BASIC_PATH_PROGS(LSB_RELEASE, lsb_release)
   BASIC_PATH_PROGS(CMD, [cmd.exe /mnt/c/Windows/System32/cmd.exe])
 ])
@@ -1193,6 +1185,7 @@
   BASIC_CHECK_FIND_DELETE
   BASIC_CHECK_TAR
   BASIC_CHECK_GREP
+  BASIC_SETUP_PANDOC
 
   # These tools might not be installed by default,
   # need hint on how to install them.
@@ -1379,6 +1372,34 @@
 
 ################################################################################
 #
+# Setup Pandoc
+#
+AC_DEFUN_ONCE([BASIC_SETUP_PANDOC],
+[
+  BASIC_PATH_PROGS(PANDOC, pandoc)
+
+  PANDOC_MARKDOWN_FLAG="markdown"
+  if test -n "$PANDOC"; then
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING(if the pandoc smart extension needs to be disabled for markdown)
+    if $PANDOC --list-extensions | $GREP -q '\+smart'; then
+      AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+      PANDOC_MARKDOWN_FLAG="markdown-smart"
+    else
+      AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  if test -n "$PANDOC"; then
+    ENABLE_PANDOC="true"
+  else
+    ENABLE_PANDOC="false"
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST(ENABLE_PANDOC)
+  AC_SUBST(PANDOC_MARKDOWN_FLAG)
+])
+
+################################################################################
+#
 # Default make target
 #
 AC_DEFUN_ONCE([BASIC_SETUP_DEFAULT_MAKE_TARGET],