diff --git a/m4/ax_am_jobserver.m4 b/m4/ax_am_jobserver.m4
index 85b3f8cc6..5a398f8bb 100644
--- a/m4/ax_am_jobserver.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_am_jobserver.m4
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 #   and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any
 #   warranty.
 
-#serial 7
+#serial 7.1
 
 AC_DEFUN([AX_AM_JOBSERVER], [
     AC_REQUIRE([AX_COUNT_CPUS])
diff --git a/m4/ax_harden_compiler_flags.m4 b/m4/ax_harden_compiler_flags.m4
index 932406074..018ffcbd6 100644
--- a/m4/ax_harden_compiler_flags.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_harden_compiler_flags.m4
@@ -62,10 +62,9 @@
 # AX_APPEND_COMPILE_FLAGS([-floop-parallelize-all],,[$ax_append_compile_cflags_extra]) -- causes RSA verify problem on x64
 # AX_APPEND_COMPILE_FLAGS([-Wunreachable-code],,[$ax_append_compile_cflags_extra])  -- older clang and when gcc had it are buggy
 
-#serial 4
+#serial 4.1
 
   AC_DEFUN([AX_HARDEN_LINKER_FLAGS], [
-      AC_REQUIRE([AX_CHECK_LINK_FLAG])
       AC_REQUIRE([AX_VCS_CHECKOUT])
       AC_REQUIRE([AX_DEBUG])
 
@@ -94,7 +93,6 @@
       ])
 
   AC_DEFUN([AX_HARDEN_CC_COMPILER_FLAGS], [
-      AC_REQUIRE([AX_APPEND_COMPILE_FLAGS])
       AC_REQUIRE([AX_HARDEN_LINKER_FLAGS])
 
       AC_LANG_PUSH([C])
@@ -229,7 +227,6 @@
       ])
 
   AC_DEFUN([AX_CC_OTHER_FLAGS], [
-      AC_REQUIRE([AX_APPEND_COMPILE_FLAGS])
       AC_REQUIRE([AX_HARDEN_CC_COMPILER_FLAGS])
 
       AC_LANG_PUSH([C])