diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index d0ed0334c..b0ecece09 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -2038,3 +2038,4 @@
   it automatically. This avoids some potential crashes.
 - Give more clear error to users who use ``make custommodule'' without
   MODULEFILE. (#3935)
+- Support compiling with a bundled c-ares again, the hacky way. (#3931)
diff --git a/autoconf/m4/unreal.m4 b/autoconf/m4/unreal.m4
index 64bbc6d3a..39eb036da 100644
--- a/autoconf/m4/unreal.m4
+++ b/autoconf/m4/unreal.m4
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CHECK_LIBCURL],
 		[
 			dnl Attempt one: Linux sed
 			XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -r 's/(@<:@^ @:>@+ @<:@^ @:>@+ )(@<:@^ @:>@+ @<:@^ @:>@+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
-			AS_IF([test x"$XCURLLIBS" = x],
+			AS_IF([test "x$XCURLLIBS" = "x"],
 			[
 				dnl Attempt two: FreeBSD (and others?) sed
 				XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -E 's/(@<:@^ @:>@+ @<:@^ @:>@+ )(@<:@^ @:>@+ @<:@^ @:>@+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ AC_DEFUN([CHECK_LIBCURL],
 				])
 			])
 			CURLLIBS="$XCURLLIBS"
+
+			IRCDLIBS_CURL_CARES="$CARES_LIBS"
+			CFLAGS_CURL_CARES="$CARES_CFLAGS"
 		])
 		
 		dnl Make sure that linking against cURL works rather than letting the user
@@ -126,7 +129,10 @@ AC_DEFUN([CHECK_LIBCURL],
 
 		AC_MSG_CHECKING([curl_easy_init() in $CURLLIBS])
 		LIBS_SAVEDA="$LIBS"
-		LIBS="$IRCDLIBS"
+		CFLAGS_SAVEDA="$CFLAGS"
+
+		LIBS="$IRCDLIBS $IRCDLIBS_CURL_CARES"
+		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $CFLAGS_CURL_CARES"
 		AC_LINK_IFELSE(
 		    [
 			AC_LANG_PROGRAM(
@@ -138,6 +144,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CHECK_LIBCURL],
 			AC_MSG_FAILURE([You asked for libcURL (remote includes) support, but it can't be found at $enable_curl])
 		])
 		LIBS="$LIBS_SAVEDA"
+		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS_SAVEDA"
 
 		URL="url.o"
 		AC_SUBST(URL)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index b054ad0d2..85b867524 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -596,6 +596,7 @@ ac_includes_default="\
 
 ac_subst_vars='LTLIBOBJS
 LIBOBJS
+URL
 CARES_LIBS
 CARES_CFLAGS
 PKG_CONFIG
@@ -604,7 +605,6 @@ TRE_CFLAGS
 FD_SETSIZE
 BINDIR
 IRCDDIR
-URL
 HAVE_ZLIB
 MODULEFLAGS
 CRYPTOLIB
@@ -693,9 +693,9 @@ with_system_tre
 with_system_cares
 enable_ssl
 enable_ziplinks
-enable_libcurl
 enable_dynamic_linking
 enable_inet6
+enable_libcurl
 '
       ac_precious_vars='build_alias
 host_alias
@@ -1330,12 +1330,12 @@ Optional Features:
   --enable-ziplinks=DIR   enable ziplinks. will check /usr/local /usr
                           /usr/pkg. Note that SSL does its own compression, so
                           you won't need this for SSL links.
-  --enable-libcurl=DIR    enable libcurl (remote include) support
   --disable-dynamic-linking
                           Make the IRCd statically link with shared objects
                           rather than dynamically (noone knows if disabling
                           dynamic linking actually does anything or not)
   --enable-inet6          Make the IRCd support IPv6
+  --enable-libcurl=DIR    enable libcurl (remote include) support
 
 Optional Packages:
   --with-PACKAGE[=ARG]    use PACKAGE [ARG=yes]
@@ -6202,127 +6202,6 @@ $as_echo "not found" >&6; }
 
 fi
 
-
-	# Check whether --enable-libcurl was given.
-if test "${enable_libcurl+set}" = set; then :
-  enableval=$enable_libcurl; enable_curl=$enableval
-else
-  enable_curl=no
-fi
-
-
-	if test "x$enable_curl" != "xno"; then :
-
-												CURLCONFIG="curl-config"
-		if test "x$enable_curl" != "xyes"; then :
-  CURLCONFIG="$enable_curl/bin/curl-config"
-fi
-
-		{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking $CURLCONFIG" >&5
-$as_echo_n "checking $CURLCONFIG... " >&6; }
-		if $CURLCONFIG --version 2>/dev/null >/dev/null; then :
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
-$as_echo "yes" >&6; }
-else
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
-$as_echo "no" >&6; }
-				{ { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&5
-$as_echo "$as_me: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&2;}
-as_fn_error "Could not find curl-config, try editing --enable-libcurl
-See \`config.log' for more details." "$LINENO" 5; }
-fi
-
-		CURLCFLAG="`$CURLCONFIG --cflags`"
-		CURLLIBS="`$CURLCONFIG --libs`"
-
-		CURLUSESCARES="`echo $CURLLIBS|grep c-ares|wc -l`"
-		if test "$CURLUSESCARES" = "0"; then :
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: WARNING: cURL is compiled without c-ares support. Your IRCd will possibly stall when REHASHing!" >&5
-$as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: cURL is compiled without c-ares support. Your IRCd will possibly stall when REHASHing!" >&2;}
-fi
-
-				if test -z "${CURLLIBS}"; then :
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: WARNING: CURLLIBS is empty, that probably means that I could not find $enable_curl/bin/curl-config" >&5
-$as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: CURLLIBS is empty, that probably means that I could not find $enable_curl/bin/curl-config" >&2;}
-fi
-
-
-		if test "x$with_system_cares" = "xno" && test "x$HOME/curl" != "x$enable_curl" && test "x/usr/share/unreal-curl" != "x$enable_curl" && test "$CURLUSESCARES" != "0" ; then :
-
-			as_fn_error "
-
-  You have decided to build unrealIRCd with libcURL (remote includes) support.
-  However, you have disabled system-installed c-ares support (--with-system-cares).
-  Because UnrealIRCd will use a bundled copy of c-ares which may be incompatible
-  with the system-installed libcURL, this is a bad idea which may result in error
-  messages looking like:
-
-  	\`\`[error] unrealircd.conf:9: include: error downloading '(http://example.net/ex.conf)': Could not resolve host: example.net (Successful completion)''
-
-  Or UnrealIRCd might even crash.
-
-  Please build UnrealIRCd with --with-system-cares when enabling --enable-libcurl
-" "$LINENO" 5
-
-fi
-
-		if test "x`echo $CURLLIBS |grep ares`" != x && test "x$with_system_cares" = "xno"; then :
-
-						XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -r 's/([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
-			if test x"$XCURLLIBS" = x; then :
-
-								XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -E 's/([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
-				if test x"$XCURLLIBS" = x; then :
-
-					as_fn_error "sed appears to be broken. It is needed for a remote includes compile hack." "$LINENO" 5
-
-fi
-
-fi
-			CURLLIBS="$XCURLLIBS"
-
-fi
-
-						IRCDLIBS="$IRCDLIBS $CURLLIBS"
-		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $CURLCFLAG -DUSE_LIBCURL"
-
-		{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking curl_easy_init() in $CURLLIBS" >&5
-$as_echo_n "checking curl_easy_init() in $CURLLIBS... " >&6; }
-		LIBS_SAVEDA="$LIBS"
-		LIBS="$IRCDLIBS"
-		cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
-/* end confdefs.h.  */
-
-			#include <curl/curl.h>
-int
-main ()
-{
-CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
-  ;
-  return 0;
-}
-
-_ACEOF
-if ac_fn_c_try_link "$LINENO"; then :
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
-$as_echo "yes" >&6; }
-else
-  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
-$as_echo "no" >&6; }
-			{ { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&5
-$as_echo "$as_me: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&2;}
-as_fn_error "You asked for libcURL (remote includes) support, but it can't be found at $enable_curl
-See \`config.log' for more details." "$LINENO" 5; }
-
-fi
-rm -f core conftest.err conftest.$ac_objext \
-    conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_ext
-		LIBS="$LIBS_SAVEDA"
-
-		URL="url.o"
-
-
-fi
 # Check whether --enable-dynamic-linking was given.
 if test "${enable_dynamic_linking+set}" = set; then :
   enableval=$enable_dynamic_linking; enable_dynamic_linking=$enableval
@@ -7000,6 +6879,134 @@ fi
 fi
 
 
+	# Check whether --enable-libcurl was given.
+if test "${enable_libcurl+set}" = set; then :
+  enableval=$enable_libcurl; enable_curl=$enableval
+else
+  enable_curl=no
+fi
+
+
+	if test "x$enable_curl" != "xno"; then :
+
+												CURLCONFIG="curl-config"
+		if test "x$enable_curl" != "xyes"; then :
+  CURLCONFIG="$enable_curl/bin/curl-config"
+fi
+
+		{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking $CURLCONFIG" >&5
+$as_echo_n "checking $CURLCONFIG... " >&6; }
+		if $CURLCONFIG --version 2>/dev/null >/dev/null; then :
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
+$as_echo "yes" >&6; }
+else
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+$as_echo "no" >&6; }
+				{ { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&2;}
+as_fn_error "Could not find curl-config, try editing --enable-libcurl
+See \`config.log' for more details." "$LINENO" 5; }
+fi
+
+		CURLCFLAG="`$CURLCONFIG --cflags`"
+		CURLLIBS="`$CURLCONFIG --libs`"
+
+		CURLUSESCARES="`echo $CURLLIBS|grep c-ares|wc -l`"
+		if test "$CURLUSESCARES" = "0"; then :
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: WARNING: cURL is compiled without c-ares support. Your IRCd will possibly stall when REHASHing!" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: cURL is compiled without c-ares support. Your IRCd will possibly stall when REHASHing!" >&2;}
+fi
+
+				if test -z "${CURLLIBS}"; then :
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: WARNING: CURLLIBS is empty, that probably means that I could not find $enable_curl/bin/curl-config" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: CURLLIBS is empty, that probably means that I could not find $enable_curl/bin/curl-config" >&2;}
+fi
+
+
+		if test "x$with_system_cares" = "xno" && test "x$HOME/curl" != "x$enable_curl" && test "x/usr/share/unreal-curl" != "x$enable_curl" && test "$CURLUSESCARES" != "0" ; then :
+
+			as_fn_error "
+
+  You have decided to build unrealIRCd with libcURL (remote includes) support.
+  However, you have disabled system-installed c-ares support (--with-system-cares).
+  Because UnrealIRCd will use a bundled copy of c-ares which may be incompatible
+  with the system-installed libcURL, this is a bad idea which may result in error
+  messages looking like:
+
+  	\`\`[error] unrealircd.conf:9: include: error downloading '(http://example.net/ex.conf)': Could not resolve host: example.net (Successful completion)''
+
+  Or UnrealIRCd might even crash.
+
+  Please build UnrealIRCd with --with-system-cares when enabling --enable-libcurl
+" "$LINENO" 5
+
+fi
+
+		if test "x`echo $CURLLIBS |grep ares`" != x && test "x$with_system_cares" = "xno"; then :
+
+						XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -r 's/([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
+			if test "x$XCURLLIBS" = "x"; then :
+
+								XCURLLIBS="`echo "$CURLLIBS"|sed -E 's/([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )([^ ]+ [^ ]+ )(.+)/\1\3/g' 2>/dev/null`"
+				if test x"$XCURLLIBS" = x; then :
+
+					as_fn_error "sed appears to be broken. It is needed for a remote includes compile hack." "$LINENO" 5
+
+fi
+
+fi
+			CURLLIBS="$XCURLLIBS"
+
+			IRCDLIBS_CURL_CARES="$CARES_LIBS"
+			CFLAGS_CURL_CARES="$CARES_CFLAGS"
+
+fi
+
+						IRCDLIBS="$IRCDLIBS $CURLLIBS"
+		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $CURLCFLAG -DUSE_LIBCURL"
+
+		{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking curl_easy_init() in $CURLLIBS" >&5
+$as_echo_n "checking curl_easy_init() in $CURLLIBS... " >&6; }
+		LIBS_SAVEDA="$LIBS"
+		CFLAGS_SAVEDA="$CFLAGS"
+
+		LIBS="$IRCDLIBS $IRCDLIBS_CURL_CARES"
+		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $CFLAGS_CURL_CARES"
+		cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+
+			#include <curl/curl.h>
+int
+main ()
+{
+CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
+  ;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+if ac_fn_c_try_link "$LINENO"; then :
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
+$as_echo "yes" >&6; }
+else
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+$as_echo "no" >&6; }
+			{ { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&2;}
+as_fn_error "You asked for libcURL (remote includes) support, but it can't be found at $enable_curl
+See \`config.log' for more details." "$LINENO" 5; }
+
+fi
+rm -f core conftest.err conftest.$ac_objext \
+    conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_ext
+		LIBS="$LIBS_SAVEDA"
+		CFLAGS="$CFLAGS_SAVEDA"
+
+		URL="url.o"
+
+
+fi
+
 ac_config_files="$ac_config_files Makefile src/modules/Makefile unreal ircdcron/ircdchk"
 
 cat >confcache <<\_ACEOF
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0daece113..4006630e0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -496,7 +496,6 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(system-tre, [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-system-tre], [Use the system tre
 AC_ARG_WITH(system-cares, [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-system-cares], [Use the system c-ares (at least version 1.6.0) package instead of bundled c-ares, discovered using pkg-config])], [], [with_system_cares=no])
 CHECK_SSL
 CHECK_ZLIB
-CHECK_LIBCURL
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(dynamic-linking, [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-dynamic-linking], [Make the IRCd statically link with shared objects rather than dynamically (noone knows if disabling dynamic linking actually does anything or not)])],
 	[enable_dynamic_linking=$enableval], [enable_dynamic_linking="yes"])
 AS_IF([test $enable_dynamic_linking = "yes"],
@@ -638,6 +637,7 @@ dnl use pkg-config for system c-ares:
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([CARES], libcares >= 1.6.0)
 ])
 
+CHECK_LIBCURL
 
 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile src/modules/Makefile unreal ircdcron/ircdchk)
 chmod 0700 unreal