diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 29d25ea28c..157f5e4184 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -281,8 +281,8 @@ AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether we need extra options to link libevent],
                 int main(int c, char **v) {
                    event_init(); return 0;
                 }],
-                libevent_runs=yes, libevent_runs=no)
-      if test $libevent_runs = yes ; then
+                libevent_runs=yes, libevent_runs=no, libevent_runs=cross)
+      if test $libevent_runs != no ; then
         if test -z "$le_extra" ; then
           ac_cv_libevent_linker_option='(none)'
         else
@@ -402,8 +402,8 @@ int main(void)
         return(RAND_status() <= 0);
 }
                         ],
-                openssl_runs=yes, openssl_runs=no)
-      if test $openssl_runs = yes ; then
+                openssl_runs=yes, openssl_runs=no, openssl_runs=cross)
+      if test $openssl_runs != no ; then
         if test "$linked_with" = nothing; then
            linked_with="$ssl_extra"
         fi
diff --git a/contrib/cross.sh b/contrib/cross.sh
index dc9716039c..e660be780d 100755
--- a/contrib/cross.sh
+++ b/contrib/cross.sh
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ then
   exit $EXITVAL
 fi
 
-if [ ! -z $GEN_BUILD -a ! -f configure ]
+if [ ! -z "$GEN_BUILD" -a ! -f configure ]
 then
   export NOCONF=yes
   ./autogen.sh