diff --git a/CREDITS b/CREDITS
index 1a14fb8e365..cfac0ef7307 100644
--- a/CREDITS
+++ b/CREDITS
@@ -104,6 +104,17 @@ dnl   warranty.
 
 ==============================================================================
 
+acinclude/ax_prog_perl_modules.m4:
+
+dnl   Copyright (c) 2009 Dean Povey <povey@wedgetail.com>
+dnl
+dnl   Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are
+dnl   permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice
+dnl   and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any
+dnl   warranty.
+
+==============================================================================
+
 acinclude/ax_with_prog.m4:
 
 dnl   Copyright (c) 2008 Francesco Salvestrini <salvestrini@users.sourceforge.net>
diff --git a/acinclude/ax_prog_perl_modules.m4 b/acinclude/ax_prog_perl_modules.m4
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0c4c1f41f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acinclude/ax_prog_perl_modules.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+dnl Copyright (C) 1996-2026 The Squid Software Foundation and contributors
+dnl
+dnl Squid software is distributed under GPLv2+ license and includes
+dnl contributions from numerous individuals and organizations.
+dnl Please see the COPYING and CONTRIBUTORS files for details.
+dnl
+
+dnl ===========================================================================
+dnl   https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/ax_prog_perl_modules.html
+dnl ===========================================================================
+dnl
+dnl SYNOPSIS
+dnl
+dnl   AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES([MODULES], [ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
+dnl
+dnl DESCRIPTION
+dnl
+dnl   Checks to see if the given perl modules are available. If true the shell
+dnl   commands in ACTION-IF-TRUE are executed. If not the shell commands in
+dnl   ACTION-IF-FALSE are run. Note if $PERL is not set (for example by
+dnl   calling AC_CHECK_PROG, or AC_PATH_PROG), AC_CHECK_PROG(PERL, perl, perl)
+dnl   will be run.
+dnl
+dnl   MODULES is a space separated list of module names. To check for a
+dnl   minimum version of a module, append the version number to the module
+dnl   name, separated by an equals sign.
+dnl
+dnl   Example:
+dnl
+dnl     AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES( Text::Wrap Net::LDAP=1.0.3, ,
+dnl                           AC_MSG_WARN(Need some Perl modules)
+dnl
+dnl LICENSE
+dnl
+dnl   Copyright (c) 2009 Dean Povey <povey@wedgetail.com>
+dnl
+dnl   Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are
+dnl   permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice
+dnl   and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any
+dnl   warranty.
+
+#serial 8
+
+AU_ALIAS([AC_PROG_PERL_MODULES], [AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES])
+AC_DEFUN([AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES],[dnl
+
+m4_define([ax_perl_modules])
+m4_foreach([ax_perl_module], m4_split(m4_normalize([$1])),
+	  [
+	   m4_append([ax_perl_modules],
+		     [']m4_bpatsubst(ax_perl_module,=,[ ])[' ])
+          ])
+
+# Make sure we have perl
+if test -z "$PERL"; then
+AC_CHECK_PROG(PERL,perl,perl)
+fi
+
+if test "x$PERL" != x; then
+  ax_perl_modules_failed=0
+  for ax_perl_module in ax_perl_modules; do
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for perl module $ax_perl_module)
+
+    # Would be nice to log result here, but can't rely on autoconf internals
+    $PERL -e "use $ax_perl_module; exit" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    if test $? -ne 0; then
+      AC_MSG_RESULT(no);
+      ax_perl_modules_failed=1
+   else
+      AC_MSG_RESULT(ok);
+    fi
+  done
+
+  # Run optional shell commands
+  if test "$ax_perl_modules_failed" = 0; then
+    :
+    $2
+  else
+    :
+    $3
+  fi
+else
+  AC_MSG_WARN(could not find perl)
+fi])dnl
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 605cea996f9..a4936520ac1 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -146,6 +146,20 @@ AS_IF([test "x$ac_cv_path_PERL" = "xnone"],[
 ])
 AC_PATH_PROG(POD2MAN, pod2man, $FALSE)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_POD2MAN_DOC, test "x${ac_cv_path_POD2MAN}" != "x$FALSE")
+m4_include([acinclude/ax_prog_perl_modules.m4])
+AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES([ \
+	strict \
+	warnings \
+	Carp \
+	Fcntl \
+	File::Basename \
+	Getopt::Long \
+	Getopt::Std \
+	IO::File \
+	IPC::Open2 \
+	Pod::Usage \
+	Squid::ParseLog \
+])
 
 AC_PATH_PROG(AR, ar, $FALSE)
 AR_R="$AR r"