diff --git a/m4/ax_python_devel.m4 b/m4/ax_python_devel.m4
--- a/m4/ax_python_devel.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_python_devel.m4
@@ -1,330 +1,351 @@
 # ===========================================================================
 #      http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/ax_python_devel.html
 # ===========================================================================
 #
 # SYNOPSIS
 #
 #   AX_PYTHON_DEVEL([version])
 #
 # DESCRIPTION
 #
 #   Note: Defines as a precious variable "PYTHON_VERSION". Don't override it
 #   in your configure.ac.
 #
 #   This macro checks for Python and tries to get the include path to
 #   'Python.h'. It provides the $(PYTHON_CPPFLAGS) and $(PYTHON_LIBS) output
 #   variables. It also exports $(PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS) and
 #   $(PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS) for embedding Python in your code.
 #
 #   You can search for some particular version of Python by passing a
 #   parameter to this macro, for example ">= '2.3.1'", or "== '2.4'". Please
 #   note that you *have* to pass also an operator along with the version to
 #   match, and pay special attention to the single quotes surrounding the
 #   version number. Don't use "PYTHON_VERSION" for this: that environment
 #   variable is declared as precious and thus reserved for the end-user.
 #
 #   This macro should work for all versions of Python >= 2.1.0. As an end
 #   user, you can disable the check for the python version by setting the
 #   PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK environment variable to something else than the
 #   empty string.
 #
 #   If you need to use this macro for an older Python version, please
 #   contact the authors. We're always open for feedback.
 #
 # LICENSE
 #
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Sebastian Huber <sebastian-huber@web.de>
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Alan W. Irwin
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Rafael Laboissiere <rafael@laboissiere.net>
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Andrew Collier
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Matteo Settenvini <matteo@member.fsf.org>
 #   Copyright (c) 2009 Horst Knorr <hk_classes@knoda.org>
 #   Copyright (c) 2013 Daniel Mullner <muellner@math.stanford.edu>
 #
 #   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 #   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
 #   Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your
 #   option) any later version.
 #
 #   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 #   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 #   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
 #   Public License for more details.
 #
 #   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
 #   with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
 #   As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro's copyright owner
 #   gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure
 #   scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You
 #   need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using
 #   or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the
 #   Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern
 #   all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
 #
 #   This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf
 #   Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a
 #   modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special
 #   exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
 
 #serial 18
 
 AU_ALIAS([AC_PYTHON_DEVEL], [AX_PYTHON_DEVEL])
 AC_DEFUN([AX_PYTHON_DEVEL],[
 	#
 	# Allow the use of a (user set) custom python version
 	#
 	AC_ARG_VAR([PYTHON_VERSION],[The installed Python
 		version to use, for example '2.3'. This string
 		will be appended to the Python interpreter
 		canonical name.])
 
 	AC_PATH_PROG([PYTHON],[python[$PYTHON_VERSION]])
 	if test -z "$PYTHON"; then
 	   AC_MSG_ERROR([Cannot find python$PYTHON_VERSION in your system path])
 	   PYTHON_VERSION=""
 	fi
 
 	#
 	# Check for a version of Python >= 2.1.0
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for a version of Python >= '2.1.0'])
 	ac_supports_python_ver=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
 		ver = sys.version.split ()[[0]]; \
 		print (ver >= '2.1.0')"`
 	if test "$ac_supports_python_ver" != "True"; then
 		if test -z "$PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK"; then
 			AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
 			AC_MSG_FAILURE([
 This version of the AC@&t@_PYTHON_DEVEL macro
 doesn't work properly with versions of Python before
 2.1.0. You may need to re-run configure, setting the
 variables PYTHON_CPPFLAGS, PYTHON_LIBS, PYTHON_SITE_PKG,
 PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS and PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS by hand.
 Moreover, to disable this check, set PYTHON_NOVERSIONCHECK
 to something else than an empty string.
 ])
 		else
 			AC_MSG_RESULT([skip at user request])
 		fi
 	else
 		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 	fi
 
 	#
 	# if the macro parameter ``version'' is set, honour it
 	#
 	if test -n "$1"; then
 		AC_MSG_CHECKING([for a version of Python $1])
-		ac_supports_python_ver=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
-			ver = sys.version.split ()[[0]]; \
+        cat << EOF > ax_python_devel_vpy.py
+class VPy:
+    def vtup(self, s):
+        return map(int, s.strip().split("."))
+    def __init__(self):
+        import platform
+        self.vpy = self.vtup(platform.python_version())
+    def __eq__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy == self.vtup(s)
+    def __ne__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy != self.vtup(s)
+    def __lt__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy < self.vtup(s)
+    def __gt__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy > self.vtup(s)
+    def __le__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy <= self.vtup(s)
+    def __ge__(self, s):
+        return self.vpy >= self.vtup(s)
+EOF
+		ac_supports_python_ver=`$PYTHON -c "import ax_python_devel_vpy; \
+            ver = ax_python_devel_vpy.VPy(); \
 			print (ver $1)"`
+        rm -rf ax_python_devel_vpy.py*
 		if test "$ac_supports_python_ver" = "True"; then
 		   AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 		else
 			AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
 			AC_MSG_ERROR([this package requires Python $1.
 If you have it installed, but it isn't the default Python
 interpreter in your system path, please pass the PYTHON_VERSION
 variable to configure. See ``configure --help'' for reference.
 ])
 			PYTHON_VERSION=""
 		fi
 	fi
 
 	#
 	# Check if you have distutils, else fail
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for the distutils Python package])
 	ac_distutils_result=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils" 2>&1`
 	if test -z "$ac_distutils_result"; then
 		AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 	else
 		AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
 		AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot import Python module "distutils".
 Please check your Python installation. The error was:
 $ac_distutils_result])
 		PYTHON_VERSION=""
 	fi
 
 	#
 	# Check for Python include path
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python include path])
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_CPPFLAGS"; then
 		python_path=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
 			print (distutils.sysconfig.get_python_inc ());"`
 		plat_python_path=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
 			print (distutils.sysconfig.get_python_inc (plat_specific=1));"`
 		if test -n "${python_path}"; then
 			if test "${plat_python_path}" != "${python_path}"; then
 				python_path="-I$python_path -I$plat_python_path"
 			else
 				python_path="-I$python_path"
 			fi
 		fi
 		PYTHON_CPPFLAGS=$python_path
 	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_CPPFLAGS])
 	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_CPPFLAGS])
 
 	#
 	# Check for Python library path
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python library path])
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_LIBS"; then
 		# (makes two attempts to ensure we've got a version number
 		# from the interpreter)
 		ac_python_version=`cat<<EOD | $PYTHON -
 
 # join all versioning strings, on some systems
 # major/minor numbers could be in different list elements
 from distutils.sysconfig import *
 e = get_config_var('VERSION')
 if e is not None:
 	print(e)
 EOD`
 
 		if test -z "$ac_python_version"; then
 			if test -n "$PYTHON_VERSION"; then
 				ac_python_version=$PYTHON_VERSION
 			else
 				ac_python_version=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; \
 					print (sys.version[[:3]])"`
 			fi
 		fi
 
 		# Make the versioning information available to the compiler
 		AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_PYTHON], ["$ac_python_version"],
                                    [If available, contains the Python version number currently in use.])
 
 		# First, the library directory:
 		ac_python_libdir=`cat<<EOD | $PYTHON -
 
 # There should be only one
 import distutils.sysconfig
 e = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var('LIBDIR')
 if e is not None:
 	print (e)
 EOD`
 
 		# Now, for the library:
 		ac_python_library=`cat<<EOD | $PYTHON -
 
 import distutils.sysconfig
 c = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_vars()
 if 'LDVERSION' in c:
 	print ('python'+c[['LDVERSION']])
 else:
 	print ('python'+c[['VERSION']])
 EOD`
 
 		# This small piece shamelessly adapted from PostgreSQL python macro;
 		# credits goes to momjian, I think. I'd like to put the right name
 		# in the credits, if someone can point me in the right direction... ?
 		#
 		if test -n "$ac_python_libdir" -a -n "$ac_python_library"
 		then
 			# use the official shared library
 			ac_python_library=`echo "$ac_python_library" | sed "s/^lib//"`
 			PYTHON_LIBS="-L$ac_python_libdir -l$ac_python_library"
 		else
 			# old way: use libpython from python_configdir
 			ac_python_libdir=`$PYTHON -c \
 			  "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib as f; \
 			  import os; \
 			  print (os.path.join(f(plat_specific=1, standard_lib=1), 'config'));"`
 			PYTHON_LIBS="-L$ac_python_libdir -lpython$ac_python_version"
 		fi
 
 		if test -z "PYTHON_LIBS"; then
 			AC_MSG_ERROR([
   Cannot determine location of your Python DSO. Please check it was installed with
   dynamic libraries enabled, or try setting PYTHON_LIBS by hand.
 			])
 		fi
 	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_LIBS])
 	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_LIBS])
 
 	#
 	# Check for site packages
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Python site-packages path])
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_SITE_PKG"; then
 		PYTHON_SITE_PKG=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
 			print (distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(0,0));"`
 	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_SITE_PKG])
 	AC_SUBST([PYTHON_SITE_PKG])
 
 	#
 	# libraries which must be linked in when embedding
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING(python extra libraries)
 dnl	if test -z "$PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS"; then
 dnl	   PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
 dnl                conf = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var; \
 dnl                print (conf('LIBS') + ' ' + conf('SYSLIBS'))"`
 dnl	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS])
 	AC_SUBST(PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
 
 	#
 	# linking flags needed when embedding
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING(python extra linking flags)
 dnl
-dnl removed by dg to try to fix the issue described in https://trac.macports.org/ticket/39223 
+dnl removed by dg to try to fix the issue described in https://trac.macports.org/ticket/39223
 dnl
 dnl	if test -z "$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS"; then
 dnl		PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS=`$PYTHON -c "import distutils.sysconfig; \
 dnl			conf = distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var; \
 dnl			print (conf('LINKFORSHARED'))"`
 dnl	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS])
 	AC_SUBST(PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS)
 
 	#
 	# final check to see if everything compiles alright
 	#
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([consistency of all components of python development environment])
 	# save current global flags
 	ac_save_LIBS="$LIBS"
 	ac_save_LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS"
 	ac_save_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
 	LIBS="$ac_save_LIBS $PYTHON_LIBS $PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS $PYTHON_EXTRA_LIBS"
 	LDFLAGS="$ac_save_LDFLAGS $PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS"
 	CPPFLAGS="$ac_save_CPPFLAGS $PYTHON_CPPFLAGS"
 	AC_LANG_PUSH([C])
 	AC_LINK_IFELSE([
 		AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <Python.h>]],
 				[[Py_Initialize();]])
 		],[pythonexists=yes],[pythonexists=no])
 	AC_LANG_POP([C])
 	# turn back to default flags
 	CPPFLAGS="$ac_save_CPPFLAGS"
 	LIBS="$ac_save_LIBS"
 	LDFLAGS="$ac_save_LDFLAGS"
 
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$pythonexists])
 
         if test ! "x$pythonexists" = "xyes"; then
 	   AC_MSG_FAILURE([
   Could not link test program to Python. Maybe the main Python library has been
   installed in some non-standard library path. If so, pass it to configure,
   via the LIBS environment variable.
   Example: ./configure LIBS="-L/usr/non-standard-path/python/lib"
   ============================================================================
    ERROR!
    You probably have to install the development version of the Python package
    for your distribution.  The exact name of this package varies among them.
   ============================================================================
 	   ])
 	  PYTHON_VERSION=""
 	fi
 
 	#
 	# all done!
 	#
 ])