diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 1d09ead1f2..0daca63e95 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 # See LICENSE for licensing information
 
 # "foreign" means we don't follow GNU package layout standards
-# 1.6 means we require automake vesion 1.6
-AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign 1.6
+# 1.7 means we require automake vesion 1.7
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign 1.7
 
 SUBDIRS = src doc contrib
 
diff --git a/changes/bug2305 b/changes/bug2305
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c979d5fd3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug2305
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+  o Build changes
+    - Tor does not build packages correctly with Automake 1.6 and earlier;
+      added a check to Makefile.am to make sure that we're building with
+      Automake 1.7 or later.
+