--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -791,7 +791,10 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([test-font-path],
 
 AS_IF([test -f "$with_test_font_path"],
 	[AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([TESTFONT], ["$with_test_font_path"], [Path to font used in tests])],
-	[AC_MSG_ERROR(DejaVuSans.ttf font file is missing. Please install a package providing it.)]
+	[
+		AC_MSG_WARN(DejaVuSans.ttf font file is missing. Expect test failures!)
+		AC_DEFINE([TESTFONT])
+	]
 )
 
 # ================