diff --git a/j9-sys/Cargo.toml b/j9-sys/Cargo.toml
index 832858d..1ccb118 100644
--- a/j9-sys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/j9-sys/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "j9-sys"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.1.3"
 authors = ["ynqa <un.pensiero.vano@gmail.com>"]
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Rust bindings for jq"
diff --git a/j9-sys/build.rs b/j9-sys/build.rs
index d29e349..8bb2879 100644
--- a/j9-sys/build.rs
+++ b/j9-sys/build.rs
@@ -4,9 +4,37 @@ extern crate bindgen;
 use std::{
     env, fs,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
+    process::Command,
 };
 
+fn check_installed(name: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let check = Command::new(name).arg("--version").output();
+
+    match check {
+        Ok(output) => {
+            if !output.status.success() {
+                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                    "{} is required, but it's not installed or not in PATH.",
+                    name
+                ));
+            }
+        }
+        Err(_) => {
+            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                "{} is required, but it's not installed or not in PATH.",
+                name
+            ));
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    // Check if autoconf is installed
+    check_installed("autoconf")?;
+    check_installed("automake")?;
+
     let out_dir = env::var("OUT_DIR").map(PathBuf::from)?;
     let src_dir = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("jq");
     let build_dir = out_dir.join("jq_build");
diff --git a/j9/Cargo.toml b/j9/Cargo.toml
index af5e23e..49cde86 100644
--- a/j9/Cargo.toml
+++ b/j9/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "j9"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.1.3"
 authors = ["ynqa <un.pensiero.vano@gmail.com>"]
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Rust interface for jq-based JSON processing"
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ name = "j9"
 path = "src/lib.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
-j9-sys = { path = "../j9-sys", version = "0.1.2" }
+j9-sys = { path = "../j9-sys", version = "0.1.3" }
 thiserror = "1.0.57"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/j9/README.md b/j9/README.md
index efd221c..26bbe6e 100644
--- a/j9/README.md
+++ b/j9/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ To use j9, add it as a dependency in your Cargo.toml:
 
 ```toml
 [dependencies]
-j9 = "0.1.1"
+j9 = "0.1.3"
 ```
 
 ## Example