diff --git a/m4/opengl.m4 b/m4/opengl.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9ce0c71294491c29ea0a0b3326f525bd167673b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/opengl.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+dnl
+dnl check for OpenGL (tm)
+dnl 
+AC_DEFUN([ALBERTA_OPENGL_CHECK],
+[AC_REQUIRE([AC_PATH_X])
+AC_REQUIRE([AC_PATH_XTRA])
+ALBERTA_CHECK_PACKAGE([OpenGL],[GL],[${x_libraries}],[${X_LIBS} -lX11],
+                      [gl.h],[${x_includes}/GL -I/usr/include/GL],[${X_CFLAGS}],
+                      [optional])
+])
+