diff --git a/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4 b/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
index aeec136318c..c5889eadc4d 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([BASIC_CHECK_TAR],
   if test "x$TAR_TYPE" = "xgnu"; then
     TAR_INCLUDE_PARAM="T"
     TAR_SUPPORTS_TRANSFORM="true"
-  elif test "x$TAR_TYPE" = "aix"; then
+  elif test "x$TAR_TYPE" = "xaix"; then
     # -L InputList of aix tar: name of file listing the files and directories
     # that need to be archived or extracted
     TAR_INCLUDE_PARAM="L"